


Along Came A Spider Who Sat Down Politely And Frightened Old Voldypants Away

by PurpleMango



Series: Fate's Favorites [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Natasha Romanov, Eventual Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Natasha Romanov Dies, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Post-Sirius Black in Azkaban, Protective Loki (Marvel), Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Seer Luna Lovegood, Sirius Black Needs a Hug, a bunch of times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-10-11 10:50:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17445485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleMango/pseuds/PurpleMango
Summary: After one life of getting exactly what she (and the deities she 'worked' for) wanted, Natasha decides to try to go back again.Try to change the series of events earlier this time, save more people.Lady Magic is more than happy to send her back, but maybe it's not exactly what she wanted...OrMagic likes to meddle





	1. Old Friends and New Problems

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just going to leave this here...

The sky was steel grey, a cold chill hanging over England. 

Natasha waved her hand for the guards to stay outside before knocking on the door of the little cottage with ever changing colors. Today the house was baby blue trimmed with pink and it made Natasha smile fondly.

The door opened. 

The man before her, Lysander Lovegood, quickly ushered her in. “She's been restless all week, waiting for you. Keeps talking about her Red Queen.”

Natasha's smile was shaky as her lips quivered. “Well... i'm here now.” She followed the man into where a wizened old woman with hair as white as snow was reading to her grandchildren. 

“Mom, you have a visitor…”

Luna Lovegood looked up, face wrinkling as she smiled. “My Red Queen- And she is here at last… to say goodbye.” A tear slipped down the old woman's face and the kids were hurried out of the room. “Will you not stay? Wish and old woman well and watch her pass on into the veil? It won’t be long now, maybe a few days...”

Natasha moved to kneel by the woman's side, brushing a thin piece of silver hair behind her ear gently. “I'm afraid not Missis Moon… i've seen too many of my loved ones die, and to see your golden eyes close, never to open again… I would never be able to look at another human again.”

Luna gave her a sad half smile. “You want to go back.”

Natasha nodded, held the woman’s cold hands for a while, before she could finally push past the lump in her throat. “If Sirius had never gone to Azkaban, Regulus never forced into hiding, Harry never orphaned-... I want to make things right.”

“Spider…” Natasha looked up, trying not to sniff as tears fell across her cheeks. Luna’s soft wrinkled hand smoothed away the tear tracks. “You know that you don’t have to do this… You could live. Go travel. See the world, tell stories, make everything better without putting yourself through that.”

“I-” Natasha’s lips shook with a silent sob. She looked to the ceiling, pressing her lips together. “I have to. I have to make it better. One more time and then… And then I can do all those things and more.”

She stood, pulled back from the older woman, who held nothing but understanding in her eyes.

“I’ll see you again. And even if you never know me, I’ll never forget you.” She turned.

Luna’s voice followed her out. “Goodbye my Red Queen… I hope Death treats you well.”

Natasha nodded to Lysander as she passed, before staking out the front door. 

She put on her tinted sunglasses. “Let’s go. The cemetery.”

The guards didn’t dare question the tear marks of her cheeks.  She wasn’t the undying queen for nothing.

 

Standing over Harry Potter's grave, Natasha looked to where the her two Black brothers had been buried years earlier. The royal guards stood on either side of the small cemetery, watching both her and for potential threats.

“I think I’m ready.”

Two women appeared by her sides, the same as always, as all three women never changed or aged. Death grinned at Natasha from where she was sitting on Sirius’ tombstone, swinging her legs. “Wanna do it again?”

Natashas voice was soft, even if the guards couldn't hear the words or see the women, they still could see her sad smile. “Sure. Maybe this time it'll be easier.”

Lady Magic smiled. “Living is never easy darling.”

Death waved her hand and Natasha Romanova, The-Russian-Queen-Who-Killed-The-Dark-Lord, disappeared from over the graves of her family.

 

When Natasha blinked, she found herself in a white room with no doors or windows, the same room as so long ago. 

Pictures hung on the wall, both moving and not. Wizarding pictures of Sirius and Regulus, arms thrown around her, but also still pictures of Sirius and Loki with the Avengers.

“He was stubborn at first. Had to threaten him at first, but eventually he came around. You two are kind of the same in a way. He recently asked to go back, do it again… Earlier this time.” Death lounged in her chair, smile knowing.

Natasha sat down. 

There was only one chair this time across from the pale dark-haired woman and the smiling blonde.

“You won't have all the knowledge you do now or it wouldn't be fun.” Death grinned. “Just enough that you can make an impact. You'll know most of the things you do now, have some of the same records, but it'll be like some of those things are… blurry.”

“Will I ever remember fully?” Natasha gave the woman an flat look.

“Eventually. Once you fix the problems we want you to fix.” Life smile was almost patronizing. “One you get enough experience.”

Natasha snorted, rolling her eyes. “I want the ability to summon anything that I’ve ever owned in any of my lives. Living without good music was sort of torture.” 

“How about…” Death grinned, eyes glinting. “You can have things that aren’t living.”

She eyed the woman for a moment, not sure what the woman meant by that, but eventually agreeing. “Yeah, alright.” 

Lady Magic clapped. “Beautiful! Well then, Natasha, please say hello to the Unspeakables for me!”

She felt herself falling, her surroundings blurring.

 

Natasha winced as she tried to move slowly. She’d fallen straight onto stone floors and by the weight on her back, someone was… sitting on her?

A low groan of pain made her tense. “Do you always fall like this? At least Sirius has good enough manners to fall into some sort of watery substance, but stone… Never done that before.”

Natasha pushed the man off, blinking at him in surprise. “Loki?”

“In the flesh.” The god smiled wryly and she noticed his eyes were gold instead of their usual green. “The blonde one recruited me to be your protector this time around- or at least until you find the others.”

“What about the other timeline though? I thought-”

Loki snorted. “Oh no no no. I’m more of a…  _ duplicate  _ than the original Loki. This is just my humanoid form so I can blend into certain situations better and protect you in times of need.” 

Natasha nodded slowly, brain catching up, and she finally realized they were sitting in a pile in the middle of the Hall of Prophecies with a terribly loud alarm going off around them. “Okay, well, you might want to be more discrete.” Footsteps marched their way. “I think we have company.”

Loki nodded shortly and with a flash of green light, a large green snake appeared, it’s body then winding up her arm and into her sleeve.  “Loki! Get out of there you little-”

“PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND DON'T MOVE!”

She scowled down at the tube-like lump that had wound its way under her shirt and was curled around her stomach. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“MA’AM! I WILL NOT REPEAT MYSELF! PUT YOUR HANDs UP AND DON’T MOVE!”

With a long sigh, she did as told, her loose sleeves falling down her arms as she raised them in the air.

A slight gasp echoed the room and a familiar voice called out, “CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!” The Head Unspeakable, the man she used to call ‘Coffee Bean’ moved towards her, wand lowered but eyes still wary. “Who are you and how do you bear those marks?”

“My name is Natasha, but I will not speak of more until you tell me the year.” Her voice softened to something close to begging. “Please, what year is it.”

“1993.”

Natasha’s legs trembled, almost falling over in both surprised and hopelessness. “No- no I was supposed to go back. I-” Taking a deep breath, she looked up to the man she’d once held as something of a father. “I’m the champion of Lady Magic and Death, and I... I think I need some help.”


	2. Green-eyed Teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See... by now i'm just trying for the longest story title I can. Sue me.  
> I'm bored, so here's another chapter.

Once not deemed a threat, as she didn’t have anything but clothes and a snake (Natasha didn’t much feel like telling the Unspeakables she could summon anything she wanted), the Head Unspeakable led her to Gringotts. 

He stopped short at the bottom of the white stairs, hood up and voice regulated. “Good luck champion.”

There was a time that the man would have given her a hug goodbye, or even sent another Unspeakable with her... but this was a new timeline. One that never saw her being raised by the stern Head Unspeakable. So, with a slight nod, she turned her back on the man that had almost raised her last life and walked into Gringotts.

Within a few steps of entering the building Loki appeared by her side. As if feeling her glare, the man grinned at her. “What? Goblins don’t like animals in their building.”

“Fuck off. You were absolutely no help back there.”  Loki’s laugh drew eyes, but she ignored him as she marched up to a teller, bowing her head. “May your gold never tarnish and your swords always gleam.”

The goblin blinked up at her, surprised by the respectful greeting. “May you ever hold the bloody hearts of your enemies, Miss…”

“Natasha.”

“And what may I, Backbreaker of the Boneshatterer’s clan, do for you Miss Natasha?”

She smiled fondly. “I’d like to have an inheritance test.”

The goblin appraised her muggle clothes, the way Loki stood beside her like a silent shadow. “Very well. It will cost you though... Are you prepared to pay? If you come out with no vaults, the price will be steep.” The sharp grin promised blood.

Feeling Loki tense slightly at her back, she knew to tread lightly. “If I have a claim, then I will appoint you my account manager, if not… I will pay the chosen price for wasting your time.” Knowing the goblin hierarchy was based on how many accounts a goblin managed, the deal had no obvious downsides to the teller.

Respect glimmered in the goblin’s eyes and he drew out the parchment and a knife. “Very well. Cut your finger and-” 

She sliced the pad of her finger, letting seven drops spill onto the parchment before sealing the cut and cleaning the knife. 

The goblin’s eyes watched her carefully. “You know more than you look, Miss Natasha.”

Her face curved into a smirk. “And you hide more than you show, goblin Backbreaker.”

They stared at each other, before the paper glowed softly, breaking their stare-down. The goblin looked over the parchment, eyes widening and he moved to bow lowly.

“Please.” Natasha’s voice made him pause mid bow. “Not here. Now that you see the results, may we be seated in your office?”

The goblin seemed to realize what she’d promised him and nodded sharply. Gringotts would have taken into account her magical inheritance and upon her deal to make the goblin her account manager, he would have jumped ranks quite nicely. From a teller to the account manager of ancient house… the goblin's clans would be quite impressed with his work.

Backbreaker’s office was large and ornate, the goblin seeming as impressed as she was, if not more excited. “You are not of this time, are you?”

“No. I’m not.”

The goblin’s teeth shone in the light. “You have too many titles for an _ordinary_ wizard.”

Natasha hummed in interest. The last time she’d checked she only had three titles. “May I take a look?”

“Of course.” The parchment was extended to her. 

 

**NATASHA NATALIA ALIANOVNA ROMANOVA PEVERELL (31 Oct 1928 - )**

**Mother - Lady Magic**

**Aunt -  (Magic Adoption) Death**

 

**TITLES -**

**Emrys (Magic- Wisdom)**

**Gaunt (Conquest- T.M.R.)**

**Peverell (Blood- Antioch Peverell)**

**Romanov (Blood- Birth, Magic- Cunning)**

**Shafiq (Magic- Mercy, Humility)**

**Slytherin (Conquest- T.M.R.)**

 

 

From there it went on to list vaults, properties, and other things she didn’t want to dive into at the present moment. 

Humming to herself, she looked over the titles. “I will claim Peverell, Emrys, and Shafiq for now. The others will surely draw attention that will decide for me my side of the story. This way I can show that I am not Light nor Dark, but Grey.”

The goblin nodded and sent for the house rings.

“By the way, can I become Mr. Potter’s magical guardian? He seems to be in need of one that is not in either Azkaban or too busy to notice he is in an unstable household.”

Backbreaker nodded slowly, eyes watching her with a curiosity not unlike someone looking at a puzzle. “To claim Magical Guardian you must only want the best for your ward, be related by some sort of blood or magic, and vow never to hurt them.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. She was bound by both magic and blood to Harry in this timeline it seemed, as her last name was now apparently Peverell. “Yes. Fine.” She glanced at Loki briefly before pursing her lips. “Mother dearest? Some help please?”

A flash of light and Lady Magic appeared, smile too innocent for a woman that had messed up all of Natasha's plans. “Yes love?”

“Since you so _rudely_ put me in a time that I didn’t plan for, can you help me? I would like to claim Guardianship of Harry James Potter. I swear that I want nothing but to help him grow and keep him safe from harm.”

The tall blonde woman looked her over for a second before smiling blindingly. “Good show! You now have a new ward- one Harry James Potter!” With a wink, the woman disappeared.

Loki chuckled from her side, lounging on a nearby armchair. “We might need that house after all.”

“The rings, my Lady?”

Natasha glanced to where three ring boxes had been laid out. A simple box made of pale wood, a sleek box with shining mother-of-pearl inlaid in intricate designs, and a black cube with no visible openings.

The Emrys ring accepted her instantly, as she’d held it before, but the Shafiq ring seemed to fight to accept her before finally giving in. When both were on her right hand, silver Emrys winding together like vines that curled into the shape of a unicorn and gold Shafiq ring an intricate mandala pattern, she reached for the black cube. 

When her hand touched it, it seemed to melt into a black sludge, wrapping around her hand tightly. 

She looked to Loki in alarm, but he was just calmly sipping a cup of tea, eyes amused.

The black creeping goo got hotter and hotter to the touch, but as soon as it got to the spot where the Deathly Hallows mark sat, it cooled instantly to a pleasant warmth, loosening and sliding down her arm to become a signet ring displaying the Peverell house crest.

“That hurt, you stupid thing.” The ring pulsed, like it wanted to apologize, and she sighed. Looking up to the goblin, she raised an eyebrow. “So… Paperwork?”

The goblin’s smile was still sharp, but this time almost amused. “Paperwork.”

 

After What felt like days of paperwork, she used the floo to take her and Loki to the Peverell Manor, coughing when her arrival stirred a thick layer of dust into the air. Frowning and calling on the house elves she remembered on the list of names, Natasha gave instruction to clean out the manor before making her way through the house and doing what she could to help.

It took hours for the elves to even get the main areas and two bedrooms in order, and with a sigh Natasha looked to Loki. "Think it's good enough for a thirteen-year-old?"

"I'm sure he will adapt to having more space than he has had his whole life." Loki sneered. "Shall we go fetch the boy?"

With a slight smile, she nodded, looking over the elves working on cleaning out the old manor. "We shall."

 

Natasha amused herself by summoning the bike Tony had made for her after the Battle of New York and speeding through Muggle London, Loki wrapped around her waist again tightly, hissing with displeasure at the high speeds. 

She slowed down the closer to the neighborhood the Goblin had given her instructions to, watching the houses go by, one after another the same. 

A good place for a safehouse if drug lords wanted your head… but not the place to raise a magical child that was potentially just as powerful than her and definitely as easily bored. 

Parking her bike on the sidewalk, she smiled and waved at the muggles that were all staring at her, before striding up to the front door of #4 Privet Drive and knocking loudly on the door. 

A long-necked woman with a squished face opened the door, face twisting as she looked at Natasha with contempt. “What do you want!”

“I’m here for Harry.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “You’re one of those freaks! Go away! Get away from my house!”

As the woman started to close the door, Natasha stopped it with her foot, voice calm even though her irritation. “Miss Dursley, I have rightful guardianship over Harry James Potter, so I’m here to take him home.” 

Petunia Dursley’s eyes widened and she scowled as she opened the door. “In then! Quick!”

Natasha did as told, looking around. The house was relatively large, with wide open spaces and nice furniture. A large man with beady little eyes looked over her from table laid with food, the glint in his eyes telling her he liked what he saw immensely. Another boy who looked nothing like Harry sat next to the man, gorging himself on anything he could reach.

A woman that looked like she was one ham away from exploding was trying to feed a dog some brandy, but she looked up when Natasha entered. “Who’re  _ you _ ?”

“No one that matters to you. I’m here because my adoption papers just recently went through, so I thought i’d come by and pick him up. ” Her eyes slid to a shorted boy with messy raven hair lingering in the kitchen, green eyes hiding behind thick glasses. “Hello Harry dear, I’m Natasha.”

“Go pack then! Get him out of the house!” Petunia’s voice was cold as she waved her hands at them.

Harry blinked, before nodding, seeming to be slightly in shock. “Um- this way.”

Natasha chuckled dryly as she followed the boy, thinking about the times Sirius had shown her memories of Lily Potter. “What a shame. Your mother was  _ so  _ much nicer than that aunt of yours...” She clapped, turning to a wide-eyed Harry Potter when he stopped at a small room with almost nothing in it. “But then again, we all have our bad apples. Mother above,  _ most  _ of the pureblood families  _ are _ bad apples! Though I guess Sirius and Regulus turned out okay… Same with your father- though he was kind of stuck up in the beginning.” 

Harry’s eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates. “You- um- you know my parents?”

“Well… That’s kind of a hard question. You see, I’m your distant relative so neither the Potters nor the Blacks knew me very well, per say… but I’ve watched over both families for a long time. I was away on business when I heard about Moldy-shorts killing Lily and James, but I came as soon as I could.” She smiled kindly at him, before lowering her voice. “Look… I vow that I will never hurt you or any of your friends, that I only want the best for you. Now, I’ve been dealing with paperwork and cleaning up my house so… Can we at least get to the manor before we talk more in depth? I’m not to fond of the lack of wards around this place.”

He looked around, at his room. “I- uh…”

“No worries darling, I’ll get it, don’t want to use magic underage or you’ll get a summons to the Ministry.” Natasha waved her hand, watching as the items packed themselves, stuff shrinking until it was all in one trunk. She smiled at the owl. “Hey beautiful. Can you follow us?”

The snowy owl blinked, then hopped to the window, letting Harry open it for her. 

Natasha took the trunk, stashing it in one of her pockets. “Lovely lovely lovely!… shall we?”

She followed Harry as he hurried down the stairs. 

Almost to the door, a voice drifted across the space. “What is it the boy’s father did Petunia?”

“Nothing. He didn’t work, he was unemployed.”

Harry paused at the door. 

“What, and a drunk to no doubt-”

“That’s a lie!” Harry spun around. “My dad wasn’t a drunk!” With a ripple of potent magic that Natasha could feel wash over her, the glass in the overweight woman’s hand shattered and the whole table turned to chaos. 

Natasha put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Please. Not here. Come with me know, please. You’ll never have to see them again.”

After a second of tension, Harry nodded slightly, voice quiet. “Sorry.”

But the woman kept going. “You see it all the time with dogs- if there’s something with bitch, there’s something with the pup.”

Natasha pushed in front of Harry before he could get angrier, voice ice cold. “Shut up. Lily and James were **wonderful** people and you don’t deserve to speak their names. Now… if you’d kindly look directly at me I will happily-” She snapped and a glazed look came over their eyes. “Lily and James  _ did  _ die in a car crash. Magic is a myth and Lily only went to a prestigious boarding school. They never had children and you’re never met me or Harry Potter.”

Harry was still stiff when she pulled him out the door. He turned on her. “What-”

“You would’ve done something rash.” She slid onto the bike. “Now please, hop on infront of me. I don’t wanna lose you so soon after meeting.” He climbed onto the bike and she reached around him to start the engine, throwing a wink to the nearby bushes where a black dog was lingering like a shadow. 

Soon enough they were racing through the streets of England.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh Harry has an actual 'parent figure' and Sirius is watching from the shadows!  
> What fun!


	3. How To Fight Like Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that canon Natasha's this cool bad-ass... but I feel that enough time with Sirius and Harry + the weight of having to live on while everyone else eventual will die = her choosing to act more like Clint to try to live in the moment and trying to distract herself with stuff so she doesn't have to think too deeply about shit.  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Slowing the bike, Natasha watched the country go by, turning onto a long winding path lined by trees and smiling as she heard Harry in awe of the scenery. Pulling to a stop, she slid off the bike and gestured dramatically. “Welcome home Harry Potter.”

The boy's brain seemed to sputter to a stand-still, gaping at the large manor.

In truth, Natasha had decided on the largest, most protected property she could in hopes that she could convince a few other people to join them in the house. Like maybe a teaching werewolf. Or an ex-convict.

Loki slid from her shirt like a limp noodle, standing up as a human and stretching with a groan. “You chose that bike in revenge, didn’t you? You know I _hate_ human travel!”

“You fell on me and then proceeded to just sit there like a useless bag of flour! And what about the Peverell ring! It was burning my fucking arm off and what did you do? Nothing!” Natasha scowled at him. “Be glad I don’t ask mother for a refund.”

The gold eyes widened in outrage. “A refund! You can’t refund me! We both know that I’m what you got, so try not to piss me off or next time I’ll let you get hurt  _ more  _ you insolent-!”

“Who’re you?”

Both paused in their bickering. 

Harry looked at Loki with narrowed eyes. “You were just a snake. If that your animagus?”

Natasha looked to Loki with her hands still on her hips, letting him answer the question. With a sigh, the man frowned. “More like  _ this  _ is my animagus. I’m Natasha’s protector, kind of like-”

“He’s my brother, cursed to be an annoying animal.” Loki glared at her at the over-simplification, earning a grin back. “He’s just strong enough to become human sometimes when he wants to talk to me.”

“Oh.” Harry watched both of them for a long moment, before turning back to look at the house. “Okay.”

She sighed, tiredness creeping up on her. “Let’s go see about sleeping arrangements. I’m practically dead on my feet.” She shot Loki a wink at the horrible pun.

Loki snorted, rolling his eyes as he stalked into the manor.

 

Natasha let the house settle into a semblance of normalcy before she changed anything. 

For a while Harry avoided her, reading and mailing his friends, joining her for meals before disappearing again. However after a while, he would bring his books into the same rooms as her, glance up every once and awhile. 

She mostly entertained herself by corresponding with Albus Dumbledore about Harry and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position, gardening in the greenhouse, brewing potions, cooking, or training with Loki.

Harry seemed most interested in their training, sometimes even putting down his books to fully watch as she and Loki fought. 

Most days they were careful, trading spells and tricks to test their techniques, but that changed on bad days. 

Days she would wake from seeing the bodies of her loved ones, her mood was foul, Loki and her traded barbed insults while hurting each other as best they could. Blood ran and tears were shed, but when the timer went off they always stopped, let potions and careful hands heal each other.

After one particularly bad fight, both of them sat at lunch, more injured than not. 

Harry watched them help each other eat from the opposite side of the quaint little table, head tilted. “Why do you fight like that?”

Natasha smiled gently at the boy. “Because we’re family and sometimes you have to hurt the ones you love to remind yourself why they mean so much to you… But mostly because we really don’t like each other.”

Loki flicked a bruise on her arm. “Spy.”

“Fake god.” She spat back at him.

Harry frowned. “You don’t like each other? But... you’re always together...”

“Necessity mostly.” Loki’s lips curled into a smile. “I was chosen as her protector, but a long time ago we used to hate each other bitterly… Goes to show the heart grows fonder over time.”

Natasha snorted softly. “If that was true you’d like your brother a  _ lot  _ more than you do.”

“Shut up and eat.” Loki’s glare was harsh, even as he pushed the soup closer to her gently, hands wandering to check on her stiches. 

Harry snickered. “You two are weird.” Shaking his head he frowned down at where he’d been reading a newspaper. “Can I ask a question- Who’s this?” 

In his hand was a Daily Prophet, Sirius Black screaming and laughing on the cover like the insane man that the newspaper was portraying him as. Natasha glanced at Loki who was tense, his voice colder than she was expecting. “Where did you get that.” 

Harry flinched back. “Ron? He said I should be carefull, but I-”

“That man is named Sirius Black.” She smoothed a hand down Loki's tense back. “He’s suspected of betraying your parents… and killing twelve non magical humans.”

Loki’s chair slammed to the ground as he stormed out. 

“Why-”

Natasha reached out across the table to catch Harry’s hand. “Please, please trust me on this. Sirius Black isn’t guilty. He isn’t a murderer, a traitor, or anything else anyone warns you about. But he’s spent a long time in a place that drives people insane, so be careful if you go looking for him.” At Harry’s widening eyes she smiled thinly. “And I know you’ll go looking for him eventually, so please promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I- I promise.” They fell into silence.

She cleared her throat, pushing back her chair. “I think Loki should be calm enough to talk now… Feel free to ask the house elves for desert whenever you’re ready. I don’t think either of us will be in a good mood tonight, so we'll see you in the morning.” She patted the boy's shoulder lightly as she passed, finding Loki in their room sulking as a sanke in a small ball.

Picking the god up, she let him wind around her, waiting patently until he wanted to turn back to talk to him.

Loki and her talked late into the night, planning out what was the best plan for the chaos that was coming. 

 

The next day Natasha and Harry once again found themselves on the motorcycle. 

Harry laughed breathlessly as she wove around cars and trucks, sometimes barely missing objects as they flew down the streets.

Pulling up to The Leaky Cauldron, she cut the engine and cast a disillusionment charm on her bike, ignoring Loki's hissing. “Right, yeah, I know love but can you take a different form? Most people aren't as fond of snakes.”

Harry sent her an appreciative glance, snorting when Loki cursed at her in parseltongue as he gleamed green and turned into a small dragon that nipped at her ear lightly before settling on her shoulders.

“Always so dramatic…” She sent Harry an eye roll, making him snicker as they walked towards the pub.

Harry and Natasha spent the whole day shopping, only leaving when Harry finally admitted his feet hurt and that he wanted to go home. 

Shrinking all their stuff up, they got back on the bike, heading back home. 

 

When they got back to the manor, Loki growled and bit her ear in displeasure.

Natasha flicked his tiny wing with a frown. “Brat.” 

“Don’t start.” Harry grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the front doors. “You and Loki had your fight the other day and you still aren’t fully healed from that. So no fighting until you heal.” The boy’s tone was reprimanding, but she heard the fondness in the words, a familiar argument they’d have. 

“But darling, I wanted to practice with that sword we found in the library! Maybe even throw in those-”

“Natasha, please! You ripped your stitches on the motorcycle from trying to show off and I know it!” Harry sounded exasperated as he pulled her into the kitchen. “Now sit down for one second and _be a good adult for once_!”

Natasha watched with steady eyes as the boy instantly regretted his words, turning away to gather a rag and the right potions from the medicine shelves. 

He worked silently, mixing the right potions for the best potency. 

About to pour the vial on a rag, pale hands stopped him. Loki shook his head. “I’ll take care of it, why don’t you go read.” 

They both watched Harry's hands shake for a second before he ran out of the room. 

Loki gestured at her. “Shirt.”

With a sigh, she pulled up the loose fabric to reveal a bloody bandage. “You know he’s right. I should be acting more-” She cut herself off, hissing when the tonic sunk into her wound. “More… Steve Rogers, less Tony Stark.”

Loki brushed the hair from her face, huffing as he carried her over to a soft sofa in the main area and set her down. “You think you’re so irresponsible, but he’s learned more with us than he will those disgusting no-majs. Now rest and let me deal with him- they don’t call me silvertongue for nothing.” 

Without waiting for her to respond, a cold finger touched her forehead and before she could fight it, she was put to sleep. 

 

Waking up in a panic, Natasha thrashed, trying to get up and get weapons in her hands. 

“Morning darling. Nice nap?” Loki’s dry voice came from her side as she blinked at where he was sitting in the armchair to her side with a book in hand. “Now stay still or you’ll rip your stitches.”

Natasha slumped back. “Sorry it’s just-”

“Who’d you see?” Morbid interest covered the understanding in his voice.

She shook her head, hands shaking more than usual. Clenching her hands shut to stop them shaking, she answered. “All of them.”

“Right. Well...” Loki looked her over. “...breakfast is almost ready, so get ready for a moody teenager.” 

Chuckling, she accepted the hand he offered, pulling herself up and inspecting her stitches while Loki shifted into the small green dragon, jumping up to curl around her shoulders. She smiled at the few house elves as she made her way to the table. “Harry darling, did you get something to eat after I idiotically tore my stitches and had to get treated like a useless log of wood? Because if not I’ll have to put Loki on your case.”

Hearing his name, the small dragon perked up to look at Harry, who just  rolled his eyes. “Yes, I ate something. And if Loki should be on anyone’s case, it should be _yours_ , you’re the one who fell asleep and missed a meal!”

Natasha grinned, reaching over to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Yes alright, I admit defeat.” She thanked the house elf that set a omelette and some fruit in front of her, taking a few bites before glancing at the boy. “Are you still mad at me?”

“Maybe.”

Feeding Loki a piece of pineapple, she raised an eyebrow. “And will this ‘maybe’ go on until we get to King’s Cross Station?”

“Yes.”

Natasha sighed at the one-word answers, eating silently. Harry kept to his room for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love domestic vibes here in this house made of Mangoes


	4. Buckbeak, the Giant Overgrown Cat With Wings and Feathers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little long, but the next one is arguably shorter... so they balance

Once at King’s Cross, Harry rushed onto the train, leaving her to board on her own. 

The children gave her weird looks, but she settled down in a empty compartment, warding the door to everyone and everything but Harry.

She was on the brink of falling asleep when the train jolted to a stop. 

Eyes snapping open, she was instantly on her feet, turning to the window. Shadowy shapes drifted towards the train. “No- They wouldn’t!” The train rattled again and she stumbled back, cursing. “Fucking dementors on a train with war-torn children! What the fuck are they _thinking_!”

The lights flickered and Loki was suddenly standing next to her, knives drawn. “What do we do?”

Cold was creeping in on every side, the train rattling again. 

Natasha clenched her jaw, throwing open the compartment. “Get as many kids in this compartment as you can without putting yourself in danger. This compartment’s safe from their magic.” She then slid out the door, eyes narrowing on the dementors running the halls. “Get  _ away  _ from the children.”

The creatures turned to look at her and after a second they started to move towards the end of the train where they’d come in. With a sigh of relief, she was about to turn to help Loki when the creatures paused, stuck in front of one compartment in particular. 

Without a second thought, she pulled her sliver gun made for only the lighter magics and fired. Instantly Thor was charging the creatures, hammer raised with a war cry on his lips and the dementors retreated quickly. Then the Hulk appeared, smiling at her briefly before storming down the other way, Clint on his heels with a wink.

It seemed someone had the same idea, a tall thin man poking his head out after a large wolf patronus.  His eyes went to where Thor was guarding one end of the train to where Banner and Clint were at the other end before they landed on her. 

His eyes widening slightly, she nodded to him. “Mr Lupin. Make sure Harry gets some chocolate for me, yes?”

Then she turned on her heel, walking to where she found at least twenty kids huddled in her compartment. 

Loki was in the far corner, lips curled down in irritation. “First day and I have to deal with _children_. Not good Natasha. Not good!”

She shook her head. “Ignore my companion. The dementors are gone and you may return safely to your compartments. I will give each of you two chocolate bars, please eat them and share with your classmates, as they will make you feel much better.” The children filed out, taking the chocolate until it was just her and Loki. “Well… I think I know why i’m co-teaching. Remus Lupin is on the train.”

Loki hummed. “You think he’ll trust you with his hairy secret?”

Natasha shrugged. “No clue… But i’m too tired for any of this. Wake me up when we arrive.” 

Loki nodded, once again a dragon perched on the opposite bench. 

She laid back down on the bench, startling slightly when the door was pulled open.

Lupin stood there, face tired. “Sorry about the intrusion-” He glanced at Loki, pausing for a long second before continuing like he wasn’t eyeing the dragon. “I- uh- I saw your…”

“Spirits? Yeah, the first time seeing them is always bit strange for people.” She pulled herself up gracefully, offering out her hand. “I’m Natasha Peverell, Harry’s guardian and your co-teacher I believe. Nice to meet you Mr. Lupin.”

There was a long pause. “Did Dumbledore tell you about...”

Waving him in with the hand he hadn't even looked at, she shut the compartment door once more. “I have been watching over the families that branched off from the Peverel line for a long time. When Lily and James…  _ passed  _ I found myself wrapping up my life in America to come take care of Harry. With that aside, I am no stranger to curses Mr Lupin, so pardon me if I don’t mind at all about what you chose to share with me or not. You are no different to me than anyone else as long as you don’t hurt anyone.”

Lupin nodded, turning to reach for the door.

“And if you need anything, please come to me. I know you care for Harry and I’d like to make sure he doesn't lose any more family.”  

With one final glance at her, Lupin was gone, and she sunk back onto the bench tiredly.

 

Sitting at the staff table was not something she was unused to, but as she was sitting in between Lupin and Snape who seemed to both _exude_ tension, she found her appetite fairly lacking. 

Dumbledore introduced both her and Lupin, who glanced at her warily as they stood to bow to the hall. Her eyes were instead fixed on where Malfoy was sneering at Harry and whispering something, a frown edging on the corners of her lips.

Then Dumbledore went of to explain about the Dementors, warnings taking on a dire tone and she watched the hall grow more and more frightened. 

Once the last word was spoken though, Loki jumped from her shoulders and flew the brief space to the the Gryffindor table, running in between the plates. 

Commotion broke out among the students.

“Loki!” Her voice was hard, carrying across the hall as she stood, and the small dragon froze. “Kindly turn yourself around and get back here before I make you into a pair of _boots_!”

With a low whine, the dragon crept back to her slower than before, tail dragging on the table limply. 

Jumping down from the student table and slowly making his way to her feet, she picked him up with a glare and he settled back around her shoulders.  “Sorry Headmaster. My companion seems to be a little eager to explore the castle.”

Loki snorted, making Snape flinch back in his seat, but Dumbledore just smiled. “No no my dear, I think it was just the change of pace we needed... LET THE FEAST BEGIN!”

And if she fed Loki more than a few pieces of fudge for his little distraction, that was between her and the mischievous dragon.

 

Harry and his friends sat around the large Gryffindor table. Hermione said something to Harry lowly, making the boy snort with hidden laughter, and Natasha smiled sadly. Harry hadn’t smiled much over the summer and she suspected that he still wasn’t used to living with her.

“I’ve never seen a dragon like that.” Turning, she met Lupin’s gaze, knowing he’d been watching her practically all night.

“He’s very rare, but don’t inflate his ego too much or his head will swell.” She pried the hissing creature off of her, setting him on the table in front of her.

“You named your dragon after the Norse trickster god?” 

Loki grinned toothily at her, chest puffing up. 

She scowled at him. “No no no. You’re not a frog, stop that you look ridiculous.” 

Loki hissed at her, voice mocking.

“ _You_ were the one who kept pulling out all my hair so you don’t get to say it looks bad.” Natasha scowled at the hissing dragon. “Oh go pound sand you half-baked villain.”

With a huff that set her food on fire, Loki jumped down from the table, slinking over to where Harry was sitting. 

She watched him climb the boy’s robes, causing a commotion as the dragon perched on Harry's head and stuck his tongue out at her. “Spoilt brat.” She looked back at Lupin. “Sorry. We tend to bicker a lot. You’ll see, he’s a handful to deal with when-... Well, it’s his surprise and he  _ hates  _ when I ruin his dramatics.”

“You can speak to him?” 

Natasha glanced to where Snape was sneering at her. “Guilty as charged. I’m a parseltongue. My mother’s gift really. Loki too- he’s another of those _gifts_...” She extended her hand. “I’m Natasha Peverell. Nice to meet you Mr. Snape.”

The man was about to shake her hand when a dragon jumped onto the table, biting down on her hand lightly. 

Snape instantly stopped short. 

Loki dragged her hand, to the other side of her, before letting go and nudging his snout at the wound in her side.

“Right… Is Harry still mad at me?” Loki nodded and she pressed her fingers to her wound, drawing them away bloody. “And i’m guessing his charm on the stitches went off, didn’t it?”

The scaled head bobbed again. 

“Okay. Well, lovely chatting boys, but I have to get to the medic-” She swayed as soon as she was on her feet, cold hands catching her.

A smooth voice hissed at her as strong arms lifted her up. “Stupid stupid woman, always ignoring your own pain for the sake of acting like you’re fine. You can’t even walk in this state.  _ Pathetic _ .”

Natasha grinned up at Loki, vision swimming as she was carried out of the hall. “He- hello darling… funny seeing you here…”

She felt herself being laid down on a medical bed. “Shut up okay? I’m going to kill you so you can finally heal properly, idiot.” 

A sharp dagger was plunged into her chest and she gasped, vision blurring as she lost more and more blood.

 

Natasha grumbled lightly as she sat on a large boulder, Buckbeak snapping up the small cat treats she was throwing at him. 

Loki was laying next to her in the sun, oblivious to (or ignoring) her foul mood. 

She’d been told by Madam Pomfrey to help out with Care of Magical Creatures for the first half of the day because of worry about her failing the night before, and within ten minutes she had Buckbeak eating out of her hand, much to Hagrid’s awe.

Hearing voices, she scowled deeper and pulled out more cat treats from the bag she’d conjured, remembering the time that she and Clint took in a stray cat during a long stakeout.

At hearing Malfoy’s whining voice she glanced up, meeting eyes with Harry who made a point to look away. She watched as Malfoy and Harry postured a bit, before the blonde prat started making fun of Harry for fainting in front of the Dementor.

“Is this what the children of this age has come to? Whining and stupid taunts? Pathetic.” Loki’s voice carried, making the group turn to look at him as he sat up, his eyes clearly on her but voice meant for them. “Can I rain down hellfire on  _ this  _ mortal world?”

She tossed another treat to Buckbeak. “Absolutely not.”

Hagrid glanced at them, before clearing his throat and waving the ferret in his hand to get the hippogriffs attention. 

Natasha watched quietly as the half-giant went on to introduce the creature, pursing her lips when Harry was left to interact with the creature. She snapped twice, catching it’s attention and shaking the bag of treats before nodding to Harry. N _o way in hell was she going to let Harry's luck get him crushed, or worse_. 

With a dip of it’s head, it fixed it’s eyes back on the boy.

Harry bowed shakily as he followed Hagrid’s instructions, and with a glance to her, Buckbeak cawed slightly before slowly bowing.

“Look at that, Lokes!” She slapped Loki’s chest. “Harry’s getting along with Buckbeak!” When she got twin glares from both Harry and Loki she pouted, resting her head on her hand.  _No one in this family loved her._

Once Harry was petting Buckbeak, Hagrid picked him up, setting him on the hippogriff. “Don’t pull out any of his feathers, cuz he won’t thank you for that.” 

Natasha cackled as Harry shouted, clinging to Buckbeak as it took off. “Oh this is better than cable!” She elbowed Loki. “Go make sure he doesn’t fall off darling. Don’t want a flattened Harry Potter, do we?”

“Maybe  _ you  _ don’t” Loki stretched and with a jump took off, leathery wings beating against the air.

She shook her head, laying back and closing her eyes, listening to the students chatting among themselves. 

The rhythmic sound of wings was all the warning she got, rolling off the boulder just as Loki landed in a crouch where she’d been laying. About to berate him, Hagrid whistled to call Buckbeak in and she was distracted by the wide grin on Harry’s face as he talked to the giant.

Then Malfoy broke the ranks and stormed towards Buckbeak. “Yes, you aren’t dangerous at all are you, you great ugly brute.”

“Malfoy no-”

Buckbeak reared up and Natasha dove forward, pushing Malfoy out of the way and laying still on the ground. The hippogriff flapped its wings for a second, before it’s front hooves landed softly on the ground to the sides of her, head dipping to nudge at her chin.

“Hey baby-girl. Sorry about that honey, can you back up for me?” Slowly it backed up and she rose, extending her hand to Malfoy. “Mr. Malfoy, I believe that provoking a creature is cause for loss of points… Although at the moment I believe your health is more important. Are you alright?”

“It tried to kill me!” 

So in other words, the boy was pale but altogether fine.

She hummed. “And I suppose you need to go to the medical wing- maybe skip both lunch and potions class… perhaps even have a letter sent home that you hurt yourself provoking a dangerous animal?”

Draco Malfoy’s eyes widened slightly. “I- I think i’m feeling better already, Lady Peverell.” His goons helped him up and he glared back at Hagrid. “But make no mistake you’ll be sorry!” The group stormed off.

Loki scoffed. “Whiney little human.” 

Natasha smiled at Hagrid. “Don’t worry, i’ll dispute any claims made, show them my memories if needed.” With a shake of her head, she held out her arm for Loki to link with as they made their way up to the castle for lunch. “I do believe this year will be more work than I thought though...”

The god at her side hummed slightly, voice dry. “And whose fault is that?”

She fixed him with a pointed glare, shutting him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some good quality content right there...


	5. On The Basis of Fear

Natasha fed Loki grapes, watching as Malfoy showed off his cast and sling to the other Slytherin students, a scowl etched onto her lips.

“He’s been sighted! He’s been sighted!” A gryffindor ran in, paper in hand, and like a charm someone asked him who- to which his voice echoed around the hall. “Sirius Black!”

Natasha sat up, lowering her feet from the table to look towards Harry.

“Dovetown! That’s not far from here!” 

Neville looked around, voice almost frightened. “You don’t think he’d come to Hogwarts, _do you_?”

She snorted under her breath, voice low. “I think that’s  _ exactly  _ what he plans.” Loki bobbed his head, earning them both a look from Lupin. “I just hope Harry doesn’t push him too far... Maybe you should go hunting for mice soon Lo...”

The dragon grinned toothily and she turned back to her meal, lost in thought until Lupin cleared his throat.

She looked up, trying to recall what he’d said, before raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Wait… You want to have the children of a war face a  _ boggart _ ? Are you insane?” 

Lupin laughed lightly. “No, I don’t think so. But don’t worry, you’ll go first, show them how it’s done.”

Natasha cringed. “I don’t think my fear should ever see the light of day, Mr. Lupin, as i’m sure you would understand.”

The man studied her for a second as she ate a few bites of her food, before he nodded once in acquiescence. “Okay then, I’ll call on a student to come forward... perhaps Mr. Longbottom?”

She appreciated the lack of questions, musing over the man's suggestion instead. “Neville? Yes, he’s actually braver than anyone gives him credit for. He’d do well against a boggart.”

Lupin smiled, standing. “Shall we go see how this turns out then?”

Shrugging slightly, she stood. “Very well. Lead on Mr. Lupin.”

 

The students stood stiffly in front of a rattling cabinet, the thing inside throwing itself at the walls to make the cabinet thump and shudder. 

Lupin wandered forward from the back of the class. “Can anyone tell me what’s inside?”

“That’s a boggart, that is.” 

Lupin nodded slightly. “Very good Mr. Thomas. Now can anyone tell me what a boggart  _ looks  _ like?”

Hermione spoke up from the side of the room, eyes tired, and Natasha smiled knowingly at the chain around her neck. “No one knows. Boggarts are shapeshifters. They take the form of whatever a particular person fears the most. That’s what makes them so-” 

“So terrifying! Right you are Miss Granger!” Lupin then went on to explain the charm, making the kids say it without their wands.

“This  _ class  _ is ridiculous.” Malfoy muttered from where he was leaning, arm in a makeshift sling, but under her narrowed eyes the boy seemed to wilt.

Lupin invited Nevile up and she stood from where she was leaning against the desk. “It’s okay hun, come on up. Either I or Professor Lupin will step in if the boggart gets to be too much.” 

_ She was hoping with all her heart Lupin would take that job if it came. _

The boy made his way up carefully. 

“Neveile, what frightens you most of all?”

“Pr- professor sna-”

Lupin tilted his head. “Sorry?”

“Professor Snape.” The children laughed and Natasha sat back, amused, as Lupin instructed the boy silently on what to do. 

With a flick on his wand, the cabinet was opened, a hush falling over the room.

Severus Snape stepped out, imposing eyes fixed on the boy as he strolled across the floor but then the spell was said and the ugliest dress she’d ever seen was covering the man, handbag on his arm.

“Wonderful Neville! Okay, now everyone, form a line!”

Pushing and shoving the kids finally got in a manageable line, music starting up through the classroom. Ron was first, the boggart turning into a humongous Black Widow, which he gave roller skates.

“Cheap imitation. A real Black Widow has  _ much  _ nicer curves...” Loki’s hand wound around her waist and she flicked a light stinging hex at him without looking, focused on the classroom.

After a few more kids, Harry walked up, a smile on his face from the other kid’s tries.  Natasha stood from her spot, brows furrowing. A dementor appeared and she ran to slide in front of him, holding out her hand and hoping the dementor would change. “No!”

The shape shifted, changing so many times she wondered if it was ever going to land on a solid one. Then a tall woman with a long face and hair tied in an elegant bun stood in front of her. “We will celebrate after the graduation ceremony.” Changing again, a man with in white held up a scalpel, stepping closer.

Her voice was soft, the words almost muscle memory with how many times she'd live though this scene as a nightmare. “What- what if I fail?”

The woman was back. “The ceremony is necessary for you to take your place in the world.” With a flicker there lied a metal table, one of sharp medical implements.

“I have no place in the world.”

The woman’s grin was sharp. “Exactly.” With one last flicker, Natasha had her gun at the ready, but the boggart was already gone. 

Locked away in the closet by itself.

Loki’s hand found her shoulder. “Was that-”

She nodded quietly.

Lupin shouted for class to be over and she could feel eyes on her back as the students silently made their way out.

She waited until the students were all gone to step forward again. “Open it.”

“Are you sure? I’ve never seen fears that were strong enough to-”

“Open it.” 

With a wave of the professor’s wand, the lock slid across, door swinging wide open. Tan fingers stained with blood clutched at the wood, Clint Barton’s broken form limping out of the cabinet, hands clutching at a bloody wound in his chest. “N- Natasha, please.”

“Clint?” Her voice shook as she took a half step forward before making herself stop. “No- no, you’re okay. You’re okay and alive. The other champion is making sure of that.”

Blood stained her white shirt when Clint moved forward, hands clutching at her, and they sunk to the floor together. “How- how could you? Leave us, side with- with  _ Loki _ ?” Natasha looked back to see Loki was pale, hands clenched tight on a desk against the wall. “He did this Tasha… you could have saved us…”

The shape changed and she was left kneeling as a sneering Loki stood over her, golden armor glinting, staff in hand. 

Her voice was thin, eyes wide. “Loki?”

“Pathetic. The Black Widow, finally kneeling at my feet and all because I killed her little friend.” There was blood slicking the tip of the man’s staff and with a wave of nausea she could imagine it was Clint's. “Stand up. Put up a fight before I kill you at least!”

She did as told, legs unsteady and voice shaking. “You’re not real. Loki would never kill Clint. Not after spending a whole lifetime befriending the man. He would rather hurt himself than let anyone touch Clint with that _cursed_  staff.”

Loki paused, smile cracking on his face. “You’re right, though what was I supposed to do?" The man chuckled as he walked around her like a beast circling it's prey. "You have so many fears that it’s practically all you are! Living, dying, loving… it seems every part of your entire life has some fear attached to it. Even being in your presence feeds me.”

Natasha straightened. “Go away.” 

With a laugh, the creature sauntered back into the cabinet. 

She turned to see Loki leaning heavily on a desk, face paler than usual. Walking over to him, she could feel Lupin’s gaze on her, but she ignored it. “Loki. Loki that’s not you. It’ll never be you again.”

“I’ll- I’ll restart- maybe it’ll be different, maybe i’ll kill him or-”

“You know that the other champion won’t let that happen. He would _never_ let that happen. He promised me.” Natasha pulled him into a tight hug. “Now come on. I think we need some lunch and lots of chocolate.”

Loki nodded and they made their way to the main hall, not once losing the tight grip on each other.

 

Harry found her during her break, in which the first Hogsmeade trip was due to be happening, eyes darting down to the dried blood on her shirt with a frown. “Can you sign my form to go to Hogsmeade?”

“Oh, so you’re talking to me now?”

Harry cringed and she could see the guilt on his face. “I- I’ve wanted to, but I didn’t know how-”

“It’s alright.” She gave in a lot quicker than usual, still worn thin from seeing her best friend bleeding out on the floor of a classroom. “I’ll sign it. I’m guessing that the Dursleys didn’t want to sign?”

“Yeah…” Harry handed it over, smile appreciative even if he flinched slightly at the names of his former guardians. “Thank you.”

Natasha nodded. “Mhmm… And are you going on the next trip?”

“Yeah. But for now I think i’m going to try to talk to Professor Lupin about the boggart. He rushed to intervene as soon as you did, but he wasn’t as close.” The boy shrugged, eyes cast down. “It might be nothing, but... I trust him.”

She handed back the paper with as real a smile as she could manage at the moment. “Maybe tell him how you reacted the first time. He might have some insight on the issue.” With a wave she shooed him off. “He might be out by the bridge. He goes out there sometimes to ponder life.”

Harry gave her a slight smile before bounding off out of the Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my sweet summer child...


	6. Who Said Sirius Was Mad? Being Serious Has Nothing To Do With Being Mad!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so since that last chapter was a one way ticket to Angst-ville, here's some...  
> Crazy Sirius, annoying Snape, and powerful Natasha?  
> And of course a tad more angst.  
> fight me

Natasha happened to be walking down the stairs when a commotion caught her attention and she made her way through the crowd just in time for Dumbledore to meet her in front of a portrait that was slashed to bits. 

Breathing out a breathless laugh, she shook her head slightly. “It seems that the play can end. The Fat Lady’s finally sung.” Dumbledore gave her a slight look of impatience and she moved back up the stairs to a portrait she’d noticed earlier, Fat Lady hiding behind a Hippo. “My Lady, pray tell, who attacked you?”

Her voice carried and there was a shuffle to get to where she stood.

The weeping Lady poked her head out from behind the Hippo, and after a long-winded monologue vilifying him, the lady spouted the name of Sirius Black. 

Natasha sighed deeply, stepping aside and frowning, noticing Loki was nowhere to be found. 

The students were shepherded back to the Great Hall and right as she was going to follow them, the Gryffindor portrait swung open to reveal Loki holding a brown rat by its tail. “Did someone ask for the delivery of one rat?”

She grinned, waving her hand to encase the rodent in a warded cage, shrinking it and putting it in her pocket. 

Just before the castle was locked up, Natasha took Dumbledore aside. “May I go out Albus? I seem to be low on sweets from Honeydukes.”

The Headmaster’s eyes were steel, no sign of the usual laughter in them. “Dementors run rampant my dear. I fear you would not last an hour.”

“Ah, maybe then I should go get some chocolate for the others?” She lifted her sleeve slightly to scratch at her forearm and saw the man’s eyes widen at the Deathly Hallows tattoo.

With a startled nod, Dumbledore gaped at her. “You- uh- Yes you may. Certainly.”

Shooting him a blinding grin, Natasha bounded out of the castle. “Please have Professor Snape take over for my morning classes, would you?”

 

Natasha conjured her bike outside of Honeydukes, getting a few curious looks as she tapped it once, before climbing on. 

Once Loki was seated behind her, arms securely around her waist, she revved the engine and sped off. 

Gaining speed steadily, she waited until the bike was going full speed and with a push of magic, they were suddenly on the streets just a few blocks from the Ministry.

Tapping her tattoo to activate invisibility and casting a muffling spell, she dropped the caged rat on Amelia Bones’ desk, knowing the woman would do the right thing. Loki penned out a short explanation of of her words, as his writing was less recognizable by far, and they snuck out of the ministry carefully. 

It was mid day when they actually saw Hogwarts,  having to buy a few things from Diagon Alley, and Natasha pulled the bike into a sharp turn at the entrance to Hogsmeade. 

“Where are you going!” 

She shrugged. “I wanna go see Sirius.”

Loki huffed. “And you think he’s down here?”

“No.” Natasha slid off the bike, starting towards the Shrieking Shack with a point of her finger. “I  _ know  _ he’s down here.” 

Loki grumbled about ‘danger-loving idiots’, before following her with a frown.

The old building was covered with snow and she was almost surprised that it didn’t fall to pieces with it being as run down as it looked. Snorting softly at Loki’s shiver, she strode up the small stairs to the front door and rapped three times. “Hello? Sirius? Please open the door… It’s quite cold out!”

There was silence.

“Oh come on now Padfoot! I’m only here to help you prove your innocence! In fact, Peter Pettigrew's on his way to being under veritasium right this moment!”

There were hesitant footsteps and the door swung open to reveal a ragged Sirius Black, a worn overcoat thrown over a slightly ripped prison outfit. His voice was gruff, eyes distrustful and full of resentment. “Who’re you?”

Grinning, she drew the man into a hug, ignoring the way he stiffened slightly. “You look like hell Sirius. My name’s Natasha and I’m Harry’s guardian.”

The man pushed her away, eyes slightly crazed. “Your the one that took Harry away from his home! The one with the bike and-”

“I want you to come live with Harry and I.” That seemed to cut the man off of his rant. “I’ll even give you a portkey to the house so you can stay there until summer break, but you have to vow to not leave or try anything stupid until I clear your name or we’ll  _ both  _ be in trouble.”

The man turned, lost in thought and she followed him into the run-down shack.

While Sirius was mumbling to herself, she looked to where Loki was frowning at the man, his voice cold. “He’s old. Older than my version at least. And definitely crazier...”

“Does this mean we won’t have to draw straws on who gets to keep him?” Her voice was mocking. 

Loki sent her a glare. “You can deal with him. I’ll stick to spilling the blood of the unworthy.” 

She giggled slightly at the man's dramatics, drawing the attention of Sirius, who tilted his head and fixed her with a determined glare. “I’m staying here until I see proof Pettigrew's dead.” 

“Your choice. I’ll have a few house elves stop by to drop off some food once and a while though and-” She pulled a trunk out of her pocket, unshrinking it. “-here’s some warmer clothes... Do me a favor?”

Sirius looked up from where he was scanning the trunk with wide eyes. 

“Stay away from Hogwarts. The portrait you slashed was quite happy to tell everyone that passes her that you attacked her in a vicious rage… Keep it up and Harry might actually be afraid of you.” With one last smile, she took Loki’s elbow and walked with him back to her bike.

 

Natasha drove into the front courtyard, stopping inches from running over Harry, who was frowning at her with his arms crossed. “Explain.”

“Good luck.” Loki grinned as he slunk off, leaving her to the mercy of the pissed-off teenager.

She dispersed the bike, walking towards Hogwarts slow enough so Harry could stomp his feet at her side. “I had to meet a friend and get some chocolate… The dementors are getting quite close though, don’cha think?”

“You left  _ Snape  _ to teach! He lectured us on Werewolves and then gave us a two-parchment long paper on something none of us had even thought to read about until next month!”

Stopping short she narrowed her eyes at Harry. “Werewolves? Did he really?” Harry nodded, about to speak but she interrupted him, starting to walk away again. “Spread the word that the reading is required but the paper is not. I’ll be doing a game with the information instead.”

With wide eyes, Harry stumbled slightly (apparently not expecting that reaction from her), before nodding and running off to do just that.

 

Rain beat down on the quidditch pitch as Natasha frowned.

Rain, wind, and lightning aside, there was no way that Quidditch was being canceled. 

Especially not as all the Heads of Houses had to agree to the cancellation and Snape was still pissed at her for not torturing her students with long papers, instead making the information into a fun game of magical jeopardy. 

Prick. 

He knew Harry was flying today, probably hoping the kid got hit by lightning or something.

A lighting bolt struck one of the rings, passing to a broom close by, and Natasha huffed as the Hufflepuff student started to spiral, broom on fire. Snapping, a pile of mattresses was covering the ground where the student was aiming for and with a loud ‘oof’ the girl landed hard, bouncing on the mattresses. 

“I’m going to have words with you after this Albus!” She shot the Headmaster a look of irritation (to which the old man just smiled) and apparatted down to the field to check on the girl. 

“Tasha!” Loki’s voice rung out, giving her just enough time to look up and see another falling boy. 

Waving her hand quickly, a net materialized, catching the boy before he could splatter to the ground in a imitation of a tomato falling out of a window ( _long story, don't ask_ ). 

She growled in irritation, closing her eyes and flinging up the strongest wards she could manage. 

The wind died suddenly, rain dulled down to a softer shower, and the field was lit up brightly as lightning hit the wards and ran into the earth.

Natasha’s eyes darted around the field, counting students as they continued playing without a care in the world. But someone was missing. The messy-haired Gryffindor seeker was nowhere to be found.  _ Her  _ messy haired seeker.

A tingling sensation crept up her spine and her eyes widened. “Dementors...”

Loki’s head shot up from healing the lightning-struck boy at her soft whisper. 

Her eyes found a shape, far above the wards, falling limply with hundreds of dementors following closely and her blood boiled. Flicking her right wrist, a sliver gun materialized, and she stalked towards where the boy was falling limply, broom nowhere in sight. With a crack of her gun a white light enveloped Harry, slowing his fall until he drifted down to the ground, laid down like a feather. 

She heard screams as the dementors followed, fanning out around the stadium. 

Many of the teachers tried to produce suitable patroni, but there were too many.

“STOP!” Her voice rang out around the field, cold and dangerous with promises of violence held back by a thin thread of resistance. “AS YOUR MOTHER'S CHAMPION, I COMMAND YOU TO LEAVE THIS PLACE BEFORE I **DESTROY** YOU!”

Like a wave of power washed over the field, the dementors all turned to face her, slowly drifting in like a curtain of ink.  They were testing her words to see if she was telling the truth, and soon enough she was encased in a tight ball of dementors, dark cloaks blocking out the light as they writhed around her but didn't dare move to touch her.

No light, no patroni, no weapons to stop them... just the burning tattoo on her arm.

“The school,  _ including  _ Harry Potter, is under my protection. Now  _ go _ .” The glint of a second gun, black as night, had the dementors scattering into the sky.  She fell to her knees, a wave of exhaustion washing through her bones as she fell back into the muddy grass.

The sky was grey and stormy, on the right side of beautifully dangerous.

Her line of sight to the sky was blocked by sea green eyes, thin lips curving gently. "There you are. Got worried for a second they took your soul- should've known you don't have one." With a chuckle, long fingers crept under her, strong arms lifting her up. "Although you might want to pass out before Harry comes to yell at you."

The words barely held meaning in her state of exhaustion, but the tone held a command.

She was good at commands.

So with the brilliant sight of a lightning bolt hitting the quidditch field wards, spreading like thin glowing blue spiderwebs that lit up the uncontrollable sky, Natasha passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love storms. Favorite. Love 'em.  
> But imagine being able to stand under a bubble-ish-thing, seeing lightning hit and fracture down the 'bubble', into the earth!  
> Absolutely fantastic.  
> (Also, i'm like 5' 6" and weak af, don't actually try to fight me. You'd win. I was kidding in the notes up top.)


	7. They Say Family Is Like Fruitcake, But This One's Just Nuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We support Loki and Natasha having each other to lean on in this good cauliflower-free house.

A pounding headache was the first thing Natasha noticed when she woke. Falling back on her training she kept her breathing slow and even while cataloging every possible injury.

“You overdid yourself.” Loki’s smooth voice hid a glimmer of relief. “You used a lot of your magic on saving the students, put up the strongest wards I've seen someone do in six seconds, and then decided to make friends with over two hundred dementors without getting kissed  _ like a fucking  _ **_idiot_ ** .” 

She chuckled dryly, giving up on staying still when he knew she was awake, her throat dry and body aching as she moved her head to look at where Loki was sitting with a book in hand. “You love me.”

“I’d love you a lot more if you didn’t decide to make it so your heart failed three times in one fucking night!  _ THREE TIMES NATASHA _ !  **THREE** !” The hospital wing went silent at the man’s yelling and she realized that there were more than a few worried students gathered in the hospital wing. Loki stood stiffly and she could tell that he was beyond pissed by the way that his fingers were white where they gripped his book. “You could have actually died.”

The door was slammed as the man stalked out and she let her head fall back to the pillow in exhaustion, Madam Pomfrey shoeing out the students so she could check on her. “Sit up my dear and drink this, it’ll help with the pain.”

Natasha did as told, downing the foul liquid. “How long have I been out Poppy?”

“Three days, my dear… Loki has been quite worried, not leaving your side, and even Mr. Lupin came by to see how you were doing. But you should be up to par in no time at all with a little light exercise.”

She nodded slightly, standing to stretch out her sore limbs. “And Harry?”

Poppy’s face fell into a familiar expression of pity. “Mr. Potter has not been in to see you, despite my offers…” 

“Right. Okay... that’s fine.” She smiled thinly to Madame Pomfrey as she got up, working out the soreness in her joints as she made her way to the Great Hall, ignoring the whispers that started up when she stumbled on the steps up to the staff table. Slumping into her seat, she scowled at Lupin. “You’d think I almost died or something, everyone’s so goddamn worried about me.”

The man’s eyebrow raised as he smiled slightly. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your odd sense of humor Miss. Peverell.”

“Call me Natasha. You have seen my worst fears, after all.”

With a smile, Lupin held out his hand. “Remus.” 

Shaking hands with the man, she felt better than she had all day. “Sorry about almost dying right after the…” She gestured to the sky to reference the recently full moon. “-must have sucked to teach like that.”

“Better than fifty dementors trying to suck my face off.” 

She huffed. “It wasn’t fifty- It was more than that! Stop trying to downplay my awesomeness!” Remus Lupin’s laugh echoed around the Hall, making her hope that things would get better from here.

 

Natasha fell back into a rhythm. 

Lupin would work with the magical creatures part of the class and how to get past them and she would run spell work, so that they each only had half a day’s work normally. During the full moons she took point, telling the students small lies about the professor having business with family or being sick.

Spell work was entertaining, as she normally did everything wandless, much to the amazement of a lot of her students. Plus they found it funny, as she almost always used Loki as a target for her spells because he’d given her hell to pay for the dementor incident before he’d forgiven her.

Harry seemed to warm up to her again as time went on, sometimes dragging her to the Gryffindor table to sit with him and his friends, complaining about schoolwork until she helped him out. 

Soon enough more and more of the students were asking help from her and she started to walk around during informal meals to help out whoever needed it, like she was doing at the moment, sitting and explaining a complicated transfiguration spell to a group of older Ravenclaws. 

A solid weight draped across her shoulders. “Natasha, I’m bored.”

“Nice to meet you bored, I’m Natasha.”

The group of students giggled as Loki groaned dramatically. “Dad jokes Tasha? _Really_?” Loki flicked her ear. “Have you eaten anything yet?”

“Not yet, I’ve been a bit busy.” She stood, the Ravenclaws already focused on writing down what she’d explained.

Loki grabbed her hand, spinning her around before lowering her into a dip, one of his eyebrows raised. “You need to eat something. You’ve been so focused on helping the children lately that i’d wipe the floor with you in a duel  _ Widow. _ ” 

“Oh really?” She stood, eyes dancing as she pulled away from him with a grin. “Because last time we fought it took three of you and  _ cheating  _ to take me down.”

“You know I don’t fight fair.” 

Natasha rolled her eyes. “ _ Ever _ . That sword was laced in black magic and _you knew_ _it_.”

Loki narrowed in on her with glittering sea-green eyes. “Grab some food and meet me on the field then. Hand to hand, no magic.”

“An hour.”

The god scoffed. “Forty-five minutes max **and** a whole plate of food or no deal.”

She huffed. “Fine.” 

Harry stood from across the hall, eyes darting between them. “Can’t you just take a break from your petty fights? Last time Natasha almost died!” 

Natasha waved her hand, a good amount of food folding into a napkin before she smiled up at Harry. “Love it when you worry about us dear, but I have to catch up. I  _ have  _ been slacking recently, what with being injured and all...” With a wink, she followed Loki out of the hall to the open quidditch pitch.

It took some time to place the wards they usually practiced within the manor, but by the time that was done, most the students and teachers had joined to watch them.

“Rules then.” Loki turned back to her. “No magic, no illusions, no summoning, no duplicating, and no weapons. Just simple hand-to-hand.”

Natasha frowned. “Duplicating and summoning or we bump the time to an hour.”

Loki looked her over. “Nothing sharp or lethal. We both know how our fights get and I really don’t want you to bleed out this time.” When she nodded with an eye roll, he waved his hand at the side, the timer starting to count down in green block letters. “Harry... call it.”

Harry sighed from the side, before standing and taking his place just outside the wards. “First things first, no dirty insults. Last time you two wouldn’t look at each other for two days!” Both nodded hesitantly. “Right, okay. Uniforms!”

Loki shimmered, gold and green leather covering him in a flow of green magic. 

Natasha sneered, shucking her outer shirt to stand in just her leggings and tank top. “Drama queen.”

“ _ Mortal _ .” Loki’s lips curled up and he stalked to the side as she moved to counter him, both circling each other.

“Arm up!”

At Harry’s command, Natasha flicked her wrists, two electric batons crackling as they appeared in her hands. “You couldn’t even stand against me when I was just  _ talking  _ to you… you think you can hurt me like this? You're not even a real god!”

Loki shimmered again and the one of him turned into three. “You sound like you’re _asking_ to be crushed under the heel of my boot.” His grin turned vicious. “Or did the _Red Queen_ lose her fight along with her _mutt_?”

She sneered just as Harry’s voice rung out across the field. “Fight!”

Growling, she launched herself at the closest of the three who shimmered to nothing. The other two attacked, catching her off guard, and a fist caught her in the chest causing her to stumble back. 

Natasha coughed, narrowing her eyes and sinking into a fighting stance, batons crackling. “Come at me you paltry false-god. Or are you still hiding behind your brother’s skirts!”

Loki lunged, but this time she was focused and ready. 

Fists were exchanged with batons that left the god stumbling back when they connected. Batons knocked away, the double faded and she took to catching him around the neck with her thighs, leading to him throwing her across the field with a palm to her chest. “You know  _ nothing, _ human!”

“And  _ you’re afraid  _ of seeing  _ him _ !” Her yell was out before she could stop it.

Loki and her engaged again, blows taken and given, insults thrown.

They both whirled around each other, trading equally strong attacks that left the other worse for wear.

Then a loud beeping cut through the air.

“Time!” At Harry’s cry, they both froze, stepping back. “Bow... and make nice.”

Loki and Natasha bowed. There was an awkward pause before the god sighed and pulled her into a hug. “Your seer would be proud... you don’t have to be ashamed of your titles.”

Natasha smiled. “You’re nothing like your brother. He would have gone straight for the dislocated shoulder the second I showed weakness.” Natasha shook her head, clapping the man’s arm with her good hand. “And i’m sure that our favorite puppy will like you just fine, no doubt about it.”

With matching nods, they both looked to where the students were gaping at them, Hermione taking notes. Harry sighed. “Do you two always have to bring up family? Merlin knows you two have serious issues with that.”

Ignoring the puns threatening to bubble up, she tilted her head with a blank deadpan. “Family? Can you define that for me? I seem to have lost my definition. It’s not in the HYDRA dictionary.” 

Loki whacked the back of her head. “Be quiet, fool.”

She laughed, stopping to wince when she went to raise her arm to whack Loki back. “Oh- that’s worse than I thought.”

“Was that because of that throw? I knew I should have been softer on that. Now sit down.” She sunk to the ground and his cold hands found her arm, humming slightly as his hands glowed green. “One, two-”

With a snap, her shoulder was righted. 

Natasha sucked in a breath before giggling slightly and taking his hand up. “Hurts less than I remember.”

Loki snorted. “Yes, well this time you don’t also have a three foot-long sword sticking out of your shoulder.”

“Hmm… maybe that’s why.” 

Arms wrapped around each other, they made their way back into the Great Hall, Loki curling up on her shoulders and falling asleep as soon as she sat down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love them. Such a wholesome love-hate relationship.  
> Snarky and bothersome until it matters- true chaotic neutral vibes.  
> :)


	8. Redeeming the Madman

The next trip to Hogsmeade approached and McGonagall informed her that she would be chaperoning (then handed her a bottle of firewhiskey and thanked her for taking care of Harry). 

Loki however, denied going with her, saying that the children would be fine and that it was too cold in Hogsmeade for him to want to go.  With no way to convince the stubborn god, Natasha took the trip to Hogsmeade in a slightly sullen mood, wishing she wasn’t alone for her birthday.

Wandering around and making sure the kids were behaving was mind-numbingly boring even with a glass of spiked butterbeer to take the edge off, and she almost was sorry when nothing happened out of the normal teenage drama- right until she saw Harry storming towards her. She frowned at the glint in his eyes. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

A hand gripped her arm, dragging her into a nearby alley. “How could you not tell me Sirius Black is my godfather!” She blinked in surprise, but the boy wasn't done. “He killed my parents! Betrayed them! He laughed as he killed those people! How-”

“Harry.” Natasha reached out, but the boy stepped back. “Sirius isn’t who you-” 

“It’s doesn’t matter." His tone was final. "He was their friend… and he betrayed them.” The hurt whisper hung in the air as Harry ran off into the crowd. 

Natasha summoned the flask of firewhiskey, taking a swig before she went back out to watch over the students.

 

Loki found her later that day, smile gracing his lips. “Happy birthday Miss Romanoff.” He held out a small box and she let her own lips curve up as she tore the box open. Inside sat a small necklace with a red hourglass on it. “It’s a portkey to the manor. Thought you could use it if ever you were in trouble and needed to get away.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was just a whisper as she pulled the taller man into a hug.

“Lady Magic informed me that I’m not staying. Not forever. Only until you find your real guardians.” Loki’s arms tightened around her. “I just wanted to know you’d be safe if they end up sucking at their job.”

Natasha tried to laugh, but there were tears on her cheeks.

“Oh. Why- what are you- stop that. Stop crying.” Loki flailed, stilling when she pulled him into another hug that lasted longer than either of them cared to admit.

 

Between defending Buckbeak from execution threats from Malfoy, sending Sirius a letter and money for a new broom for Harry via house elf, and trying to teach the students spells they should have learned under Lockhart (may he forever hope to stay away from her or face varying dark curses), Natasha found herself run ragged.

Christmas came to the castle and Natasha was happy to see that Harry was ecstatic to have gotten a new broom for Christmas, more so than her presents of books on occlumency, warding, and the history of the Triwizard tournament. 

Then McGonagall, much to Harry’s outrage, decided to take away the new broom that Sirius had sent him anonymously- making her have to deal with both a grumpy teenager and angry messages from Sirius through her house elf.

Lupin informed her of Harry’s desire to learn about the Patronus charm, and she curbed her irritation at the boy not coming to her with this, instead thanking the man in his help and anonymously gifting him a fancy container of the expensive hot chocolate she’d always had Tony get her when she was upset.

The man obviously knew who it came from, a small tin of peppermint flavored coffee showing up on her desk the next day, to which she smiled widely at.

Quidditch matches got more and more fierce, Natasha finding out last second that Dumbledore had made her the on-field help for Madame Hooch, having to make sure the kids didn’t kill each other while playing the dangerous sport. 

The weather got a cold front and Natasha found the dementors drifting closer and adding to the chill of the castle. 

Loki took to his human form more often than not, bundled in heavy Asgardian furs that left the students whispering, spinning more and more outrageous tales about him which only seemed to amuse the god.

 

Coming into the classroom, blanket around her shoulders like a cape, she found Lupin staring at a familiar piece of parchment. “Reminiscing on your school days?”

The man’s went to hide the map instinctively, before relaxing when he realized it was just her. “Your ward was toting this around, wandering the school, and he said-...” Lupin broke off, eyes narrowing on her. “Wait. You know about-”

“The marauders? Yeah. I was as close to Lily as you or Sirius.” She didn’t add the part where she’d only seen the woman through their memories in the previous life, instead letting the man think she and the redhead were old friends. “You were saying something about Harry?”

“He- He said he’d seen someone on the map that was dead… Peter Pettigrew.” Lupin looked down at the map, eyes lost. “But I don’t see anything like that.”

Natasha walked over, watching as Loki made his way up the stairs to the classroom. “No no, I think Peter’s  _ exactly  _ where he needs to be right now.”

Lupin opened his mouth to say something, but Loki stormed in before he could, scowl on his face. “What’s wrong with them! _Alien_? _Me_? I’m almost offended!”

“You did try to tear apart New York with an alien army. And you aren’t exactly native to Earth...”

Loki scoffed. “Doesn’t count if it didn’t happen here. These children won’t stop annoying me with questions! As _if_ I was some human hermit that got cursed by a old crone to become an animal servant to a beautiful wit-” Eyes narrowed on her as Loki stepped forward intimidatingly. “Natasha Romanoff… what did you tell the children about me...”

She grinned. “A half truth. You _are_ bound to me for the expanse of my life here Lokes, might as well have some fun with it.”

The god’s lips twisted into a frown. “And does that horrible thing on your shoulders have to do with-  _ having fun _ ?”

Natasha untied the blanket cape, holding it up so Loki could see the pattern with a smile. “Yup. It’s pajama week, courtesy of me! Dumbledore thought it might help the mood!” The blanket was of the Avengers, all in fighting poses facing off against a very cartoonish Loki with a raised scepter. She especially liked the Black Widow one, short red hair framing a pretty face as she had her guns raised. “Do you like it? I thought i’d remind you of home!”

“Ugly.” The man’s face turned into a soft smile nonetheless. “I suppose… I should get in pajamas?” At her wide grin, the man’s clothes shimmered, black silk pajamas hanging off him elegantly. 

She summoned up a similar blanket to hers, one that had Thor on it, and the man copied in tying it around his own neck without much more than a grimace.

Natasha had quite the week, convincing anyone she could to dress in pajamas, and by the third day most everyone was decked out in their comfiest clothes. Though she and Loki were constantly changing their outfits to try to best each other. 

It eventually came to a head at the end of the week, Loki in an whole Asgardian ceremonial outfit and her in a rainbow onesie. 

The students seemed more amused than anything, enjoying asking questions about their outfits that she answered happily while Loki avoided at all costs.

 

The next morning the mail came, a hush falling over the hall, making her look up from her current book. “Lokes?”

“Bulls-eye.” Loki slapped the paper down in front of her, the front page reading that Sirius Black was innocent, wrongfully imprisoned for the crimes and that Peter Pettigrew was to be facing the Dementor’s kiss in two days time. That Sirius Black was due reparations for false imprisonment as soon as he came forward and a mysterious tip had seen to this happening.

Natasha grinned, cheering and jumping up to hug Loki, who spun her around while grinning widely. 

A gasp from Lupin made them stop and the man looked like he was close to fainting. 

She put a hand on his shoulder, smile soft. “I know. You thought he was the traitor… and there’s no harm in that, you only knew what the facts were pointing to at the time. As for Sirius though, I think he’s better than you think at the moment.”

Dumbledore made a quick announcement that he’d gotten word the dementors were going to be leaving, prompting a celebration from the students, and then gave his word about hoping Sirius Black would be alright.

Harry’s eyes caught her from across the room and she smiled lightly, before looking down at her eggs. “Full moon tonight... Think there’d be any opposition against a mangy mutt running around the Forbidden Forest?”

Lupin’s eyes widened as he looked up at her, pausing before he spoke. “No… none I can think of.”

“Good.” She stood up, Loki joining her. “He’s been waiting a long time for tonight.”

That night she sat in the astronomy tower, smiling as duel howls echoed through the night from the Forbidden Forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good shit right there HMMMMM


	9. The Death of a God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius was just released from criminal charges

Harry cornered her in the Defense classroom a few days later while school was winding down from finals. “You knew.”

“I did.”

The boy shifted his weight uneasily for a few seconds, before he stood straight and squared his shoulders. “I want him in my life. I want to go live-”

“I’ve already asked him to come live with us. Merlin knows he needs a steady meal plan… I’ve been also planning to ask Remus as well.” Natasha leaned against the wall, enjoying the surprised look on the boy’s face. “What? Did you really think i’d tell you not to take any time you could get with your parent’s only friends?”

Harry grinned, leaping forward. “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!”

Natasha caught the boy in his hug, laughing lightly. “How about you go talk to Remus about moving in while I get my stuff together and send Sirius a portkey to the manor.”

She shook her head as the boy bounded off, scrawling out a note and attaching a portkey to it, before sending it off with her house elf Buttons.

Lupin strode over a while later, face wary as Harry followed at his heels. “You- you want us to live with you? Both Sirius and I?... Why?”

“I have things to do over the summer and would feel better not leaving Harry alone, both of you are out of a house currently, Harry seems to like you both even if he’s never met the dog… I don’t know. What excuse do you want to hear? Loki’s annoying and the house gets too quiet?”

“Thank you.” Lupin’s face was unreasonably fond. “For everything.”

She hummed, watching as the two made their way to the end-of-the-year feast. 

“I’m annoying now?”

Natasha smiled as she turned to the taller man. “Oh, _ever so much_. Always so annoying Loki. What with your-” She paused at the grim look on his face, worry bubbling up in her stomach. “What?... What’s wrong?”

Loki’s chuckle was almost sad. “I thought I would have more time.”

“More- Loki what do you mean?” She stepped forward to take the man’s hands.

The dark eyes were saddened. “You chose your guardians. It’s time for me to return to my time. Mother requested my presence.” Loki’s hand brushed over her hair. “I hope they treat you well, Black Widow.”

Her grip on him tightened. “No. Stay here until the end of the school year. At least. You owe me and the students that. One more night.”

Loki’s eyes flashed gold for a long moment before he nodded, eyes green again. “She says that’ll work. One more night it is.”

 

Dinner was started when Natasha and Loki entered, Loki in a tuxedo shirt with black tie under a long overcoat that moved entrancingly when he walked, her in high-waisted dark maroon pants over a white button up. Waving her hand, the soundtrack for ‘Dirty Dancing’ starting up in the background as she turned to Loki. “Ready?”

“As ever. Really hope I can remember what Clinton taught me.”

She smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

The beat started, Loki spinning her out as they started to dance along. 

Hogwarts stilled to watch as they moved along to the dancing, before she broke off to dance along the aisle. Starting back, Loki nodded and she ran forward, getting lifted up by his strong arms. 

Lowering her to the floor, she waved her hand, cutting the music off. “I would like to congratulate all the fifth years for passing their OWLS, as well as  _ every  _ student that took their NEWTS!”  Students cheered, clapping going around and she tugged Loki up to the staff table with a smile to Dumbledore, whose eyes twinkled as he dipped his head in acknowledgement. 

The night went on and she noticed Loki’s temperature slowly dropping though where their hands were clasped. 

Dinner slowed and Loki leaned on her heavily as they got up, her voice soft. “Thirty minutes left darling. Let’s get you to the medical wing.” They moved slowly out, Loki’s legs collapsing as soon as they got to the Great Hall doors, Natasha barely keeping him from falling. “Come on, are you going to make me carry you? _Fine_!”

Lupin and Harry caught up with her halfway to the med wing, worry covering both their faces. “What’s wrong with him?” Harry moved forward, but was held back by Lupin as she stormed into the medical wing, laying Loki down on the closest bed. 

“He’s dying.” Her voice was short. “We both knew it would happen, but I didn’t think...”

A cold hand grabbed her hand, Loki’s lips curving up. “Say hi to Sirius for me… I- I think i’m late for trying to destroy New York.”

Her laugh was short and wet as she flicked his shoulder. “Give Clint a good fight for me. And take that drink- Tony really does have the best alcohol.”

Loki’s breath shuttered. “Let- let them help. Pro- promise me.”

“I promise sweetheart.” Her hand tightened on his, fingers brushing his long hair from his face. “I promise.” 

With a slight smile, a light overtook the man and when it faded he was gone, nothing left but the green scarf he was wearing.

“No!” Harry rushed forward, clutching at the fabric and turning on her. “Where’d he go! What’d you do?”

“Lady Magic returned him to where he came. Apparently I don’t need him as my guardian anymore.” Her voice was quiet, but resolute. “Now, I have to go pack up my rooms. I’ll meet you two after the castle empties tomorrow, by the whomping willow.”

“Stop it!” Harry’s cry stopped her from leaving. “You don’t get to act like he never existed! Like- like you have no heart!”

Natasha fixed the boy with a blank stare. “Loki died, as will everyone one day. I try not to dwell on my loved ones dying. I don’t have the luxury of grieving while waging a war.” 

Turning on her heel, she stalked away from the room, the ring she’d gotten Loki earlier in the year on her ring finger as she clutched at the hourglass pendant around her neck and tried not to cry.

 

The students lifted her mood slightly, their excitement almost infectious as they all clammored around the platform talking with friends. 

She was wished a good summer more times than she could count and by the time the Hogwarts Express pulled away she was left with more than a few gifts she didn’t remember accepting and a smile that was less strained than it had been at breakfast.

Natasha summoned a Stark-phone and headphones, humming along to her music as she moved around the room packing up the rest of her stuff. One whole case was full of mens clothes and other things that Loki had picked up, taking pleasure in stowing them in the very back of her trunk. Shrinking everything she had, she called a house elf, who took it back to the manor.

Starting down the stairs, she put her hands in her pockets as she strolled towards the whomping willow, eyes watching the scenery around her more than where she was going.

Movement had her eyes snapping forward, both men and teen watching her with unreadable expressions that she didn’t go to far to read (she didn’t really want to deal with emotions at the moment). Pulling out her headphones, she paused the song and wound the cord around her hand, stowing the device back in her pocket. “Did I miss the whole awkward greeting-dance? Good.”

Sirius snorted, looking at her with slight disdain. “Where’s the other one- your boy toy?”

“He died.” She pulled out the portkey, a red high heel, tapping it and closing her eyes as she adjusted it to drop them inside the manor’s wards as well as keying in the two men to the wards. “Lovely. Grab on.”

The other three did, looks reading into something she’d missed along the way, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to get home and lock herself in the training room so she could shoot something, put herself in moral danger in hopes she’d stop feeling so fucking numb.

“The Winter Soldier’s-” She sighed while saying the password that Loki had made. “-amazing bubble butt.” 

None of the others had time to express their befuddlement at the string of words before they were pulled through a vacuum of space and then spat back out, Natasha left the only one standing. Brushing herself off, she started towards the large manor.

Sirius and Remus followed Harry after they all pulled themselves up, both gaping at the size of what seemed more like a castle than a house. They found Natasha sitting at a high bar top inside an open parlor, green leather journal in hand, formal clothing already traded for leggings and a tank top.

“Buttons?” 

A house elf popped in, only glancing at the other three, attention focused more on the woman at the bar. “Missis Natashy be calling?”

“Yes, please lock away all the level three items in the house before I do something rash, have a light lunch made, and then bring out the papers Loki had been working on secretly.” The house elf’s eyes widened and left without even bowing. A few seconds later some food and a small stack of paper appeared.

“Level three!” Harry’s voice was verging on worry. “Natasha what-”

She waved at the boy, looking over the papers. “I’m fine. Eat.”

Sirius frowned. “What’s… level three?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed as he moved to stand across from where she was reading over the papers. “Level three locks away all potentially dangerous items. Poisons, weapons, strong medicines, anything that could be used to hurt one’s self-”

“Oh!” Natasha stood abruptly, almost falling of her stool as she stood, papers in her hand. “He’s- he’s  _ brilliant _ !” 

The three stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

She swiveled to Harry, forgetting momentarily that she wasn’t planning on talking to him for a couple days. “I’m going out, there’s an errand I have to do, part of Loki’s last wishes among a lot of other nonsense about- well it’s crude, to say the least.” She waved the papers in her hand. “I’ll be back in about three days time. Please show the boys around and have the house elves contact me if you need anything or the wards do something strange.”

“You can’t just leave! What’s so important?!”

A grin stretched across her face. “The wards! I forgot about the bloodline wards!” Without any more explanations she was summoning her go-bag and her racing bike, nodding once in goodbye before driving away.

Sirius looked at Remus. “I want one.”

“The bike?... or her?” Remus sounded amused. “Because I don’t think either are going to happen.”

“ _Damnit_.”

Harry spun around to gape at them. “Hey! That’s my- my guardian you’re talking about!” The boy gave both men glares, glancing at the gates that had closed behind Natasha, before sighing. “Come on. We better get something to eat before I show you around, or we might get lost and starve.”

Sirius’ scoff was found to be invalid when, two hours later, he and Harry proceeded to lose Remus in the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't posted in forever... Oops?


	10. Why Is It Always Spiders?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been kinda MIA, but with the flu going around and school stabbing me in the back, I'm trying my best to write when I can.

Natasha crept through the rundown shack, steps silent, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling with things lurking in the shadows. 

Things following her. 

Soft whooshing, like the wind in the trees alerted her to their movements.

She turned her head silently, but there was nothing was there.

With pursed lips, Natasha balanced, moving slowly another step forward. Measuring every step, she made sure every step she took was silent. 

She’d already been left dying, breath gasping out of her as she coughed up blood twice by moving to rashly, making too much noise. The first time she hadn’t heard the rustling, mistaking it for something mundane, the second a floor board had broken underfoot.

Her shoes were long thrown out the door she’d left open, her over shirt tied over her mouth to muffle her breathing. She’d come up the stairs pressed to the wall. Every trick in the book she knew for being silent and she was still failing. Even magic alerted the creatures to her.

The plank under her foot creaked and she froze.

Hot air fanned against her neck, steady as the slight shaking in her hands. Eventually the creature moved, it’s interest in her fading as it dropped to the floor, the boards dipping under its weight. Stiff hairs brushed her arm and with silent horror she realized that another large creature was hanging in front of her, it’s long spindly legs covered in stiff bristled hair moving over her bare skin in what seemed like curiosity.

A second too late she realized it knew that she was there, it’s sharp teeth digging into the meat of her neck. A broken cry of pain broke from her lips, willing her body to move as much as she could forward, ignoring the scuttling creatures that were drawn to the noise in order to stumble just a few more steps closer to getting out of this damned house. 

Natasha felt them, relentless mouths stripping her of her flesh, and resigned herself to waiting to die as they ate her alive.

 

Blinking, she opened her eyes, breathing in relief when she saw it was light out. 

She had missed light, every time she woke from dying the other times it had already been dark. But then it might also be the corrupted magic of the house not allowing light for more than a few hours.

Thankfully the Quintaped didn't like light. With five hairy legs like a strange spider, multiple eyes, and mouths with needle sharp teeth in their underbellies, Quintaped were now number 1 on her least favorite creature list.

Why was it always spiders.

Just because she was named after a spider didn’t mean she  _ liked  _ them.

Groaning, she pulled herself up using a broken chair, trying to keep her legs steady. The damned ring had to be around here somewhere. Scanning the furniture, she huffed and started to stomp on the floorboards with her foot, trying to find a hollow board.

Rustling, accompanied by violent hissing came from the walls and she narrowed her eyes, throwing a broken chair leg at the wall in her frustration. “Shut up you stupid spiders!”

Working as fast as she could, she moved towards the window checking the floorboards, ignoring the fact that the already setting sun was casting a definite area of light and there were tons of vicious spiders toeing the line between light and shadow.

Then a board creaked.

Dropping to her knees she pried up the loose piece of wood, but there was nothing there. Only dust.

Fear and despair clawing at her throat, the sun setting, and the beasts around her gearing up to eat her yet again... Natasha did the one thing she could. 

She threw herself out the window.

With a heavy heart, Natasha watched the spiders scuttle around the shack, trying to get to her even as some barrier kept them inside.

The despair slowly turned to anger as she checked her watch. She'd been trying not to die, trying to get to something that wasn't even in that evil house for three days, time being eaten and her healing process making up for most of that lost time.

Anger lighting a fire in her bones, she summoned a molotov cocktail, lighting it and throwing it into the shack. Fire consumed the wooden structure easily, a sick pleasure curling up in her chest as inhuman shrieks filled the night and after a while of watching the house burn, she laid down to get some sleep.

The sun woke her and she got to milling through the ashes of the fire, her knees almost giving out when she kicked aside a charred plank to reveal a half burnt box with a gold ring laying inside.

Waving her hand, the ring was encased in a heavy lead box and she picked it up. 

Grabbing her shoes, she marched out of the wards towards where she’d left her bike.

A pop alerted her to where her house elf, Cally, appeared suddenly. “Missis Natashy is alive! The missis is being gone for almost six days!”

Glancing at her watch she saw that the second hand was now going much faster, frowning. “Evil fucking house.” She held out the box to the elf. “Please have this put in the Emrys vault for safekeeping. Thank you Cally, but I have another errand to do.”

She moved towards her bike, but the house elf snapped and it disappeared. “Missis will use the gift mister Lo-key gave. Little master is very worried and missis is in no state to drive.”

Natasha looked down at the clothing that was hanging off her, torn apart by the Quintaped. “Right. Point taken. Maybe it would be better to apparate.”

The elf started forward, but she was already gone.

 

Stumbling, hand shooting out to catch on the wall as she clenched her jaw, Natasha hissed in pain and grimaced down at her hand. 

Sure, losing a finger to splicing wasn’t the worst, as it would right itself as soon as she died next, but it still hurt like a bitch.

Ripping one of the torn parts of her shirt off and wrapping it around her hand, she stalked up to Grimmauld Place. The blood wards felt like ice sliding down her spine, but she was technically of Black blood, so nothing terrible happened. 

Just as the Gaunt wards had done.

With a wave of her hand, the door opened and she stalked in quietly. 

She trusted that there weren't any flesh-eating spiders in the house, but it was still a Black property and she’d be foolish to think that there wouldn’t be any defenses. 

“Kreacher?”

With a pop the wrinkled house elf appeared in front of her. “Who dares enter the House of Bl-” The small elf’s eyes widened on her house rings, before sinking into a low bow. “I’s be thinking that dirty traitor master come to wreck the house but a missis! A grand missis come to see Kreacher!”

Natasha sighed, kneeling down in front of the house elf. “Kreacher, I need the locket that Regulus gave you. I can destroy it.”

“Missis can destroy the evil locket?” The elf’s eyes widened, watering slightly as he pulled off the locket and held it out to her. “Master Regulus would be so happy!”

She used a small handkerchief to grab the locket before storing it in her pocket immediately. “Yeah… Can you tell Regulus that it’s being taken care of? He should know, maybe even see his brother.”

“Master- Master Regulus is dead. Master gave me the locket before-” 

Natasha’s eyes widened, a cold feeling piercing her chest. Regulus couldn’t be dead. Death wouldn’t take one of her family away from her before she could even do anything about it... “Take me there. Where he died.”

The elf grabbed her arm and they appeared in the dark. 

Snapping her fingers, a ball of light flew up, illuminating a lake lined with crystals. 

The elf pointed out across the water. “They dragged master down. Down to the bottom.”

Frowning, she eyed the still water. “This is- something here isn’t right.” She leaned down to pick up a rock before flinging it out into the water. A single ripple and the water stilled. 

With a frown she leaned forward to try to look into the water but a bony hand held her back.  “Isn’t safe missis. It isn’t safe. Please, we leave- we leave now?”

“Not yet.” She glanced at Kretcher, unwrapping the bloodstained rag around her hand. “Maybe some fresh blood will help chum the waters…” She backed up, the elf doing the same in staying behind her and she tossed the rag into the water. 

Almost within seconds the waters started churning violently, sloshing as creatures so deformed their skin looked to be falling off crawled up the rocks.

Deathly Hallows mark burning, she held up her hand. “STOP!” 

There was silence as the creatures paused. 

“I, Champion of Death, command you to release Regulus Black from your hold and return to your lake.”

There were low moans, like a chorus of tortured souls before a boy was surfacing from the water gasping for air and struggling to grip onto the land. Face absolutely terrified, the boy scrambled up the shore, eyes darting towards her. “Help, please! Help me!”

Gathering the sopping wet boy in her arms she pulled him close. “Regulus. I knew you couldn’t be dead. You’re much too smart for that.”

The boy didn’t seem to care much who she was, clinging to her and trembling. The moans and groans of the beasts escalated and they slowly edged closer, the warning only having held for so long. 

Natasha looked at Kreacher before lightly moving the boy to where the elf was standing. “Kreacher I need you take him to the Peverell Manor, I allow you to gain access, so you’ll be able to get through the wards. Tell Cally about what happened here and make sure Regulus is okay.” 

“Miss-”

“Go!” Natasha drew her guns as the shuffling creatures got closer and then with a pop the elf and the boy were gone. She shot down the oncoming zombie-like things, backing up to where she’d seen a exit. Stumbling through it she shot a blasting spell at the cave ceiling, falling back as rocks rained down on the doorway, sealing it closed for good. 

With heavy breaths she looked down, a startled laugh tumbling from her lips. She’d fallen back on a jagged rock face, an especially sharp crystal poking out from where it had run her through. 

She gripped the pendant on her neck. “Te- tesseract....”

With a suckling feeling, she was thrown to the floor of the main parlor. Footsteps echoed through the house.

Ignoring the three people that skidded into the room, she rolled onto her back, groaning lowly. “If you're flesh-eating spiders here to consume my soft insides or lake zombies, then you're too late.” Wincing as she stood up unsteadily, she waved her hand, summoning a long walking stick so she could limp to the kitchen. “Please, _please_ don’t remind me. I already know I look like shit-”

A teenager collided with her as soon as she was leaning against a counter. “Natasha! You're okay!” Green eyes looked her over for wounds. “You were gone for so long and none of the house elves could reach you!”

She swayed on her feet, vision blurring. “ I hate black… magi-” Without warning, her legs gave out on her. 

Remus caught her from crumpling to the ground. “

Don't- don let Harry-” The coppery aftertaste of blood lingered on her tongue as she coughed violently.

“Sirius get Harry out!” At Remus’ shout the boy was dragged from the room, calloused hands laying her down to the floor. “Natasha- you can't die- what about Harry!”

Natasha smiled weakly. “Guess the cat- cat's out of the bag.” A shudder shook her body, her eyelids heavy with exhaustion. “Bed- please...”

Remus nodded, picking her up and rushing her to the closest room. 

She grinned weakly, eyes nearly staying open. “So... foreword.”

The last sight she saw was the pretty blush on Remus Lupin's cheeks at putting her down in his bed, before she died from blood loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a sick fic? I feel like taking care of your constantly-dying housemate has to fill some sort of trope...


	11. Ah, Yes, You Got The Black Family Dramatics

Sirius Black liked to think he was in a great mental state for someone who had been through what he had.  Losing his brother, his best friends getting killed, and then thrown into the worst prison known to wizard-kind...

And yet that was next to nothing to the weirdness that Natasha Peverell brought with her whenever she  _ glided  _ into the room.

She not only adopted Harry and then basically gave him to him and Remus to take care of, but then Remus had found out both of them were being payed generously for what was marked down as ‘taking care of the house’. 

Not to mention that the woman had left for six days, then proceeded to come home and die in a spectacular fashion (after flirting with Remus).

But to top off the weirdness? A teenager, looking almost exactly like his little brother was brought to the manor with Kreacher, getting treated for shock. And then when Natasha died, the teen sat down beside her and refused to move or let anyone move her. Also, he seemed to actually  _ be  _ Regulus Black.

Sirius wasn’t sure if he wanted a drink, or to punch Fate in the face.

Then a letter showed up, addressed to _‘Natasha’s new idiot guardians’_ and it wouldn’t let anyone but Sirius or Remus move it.

With commiserating looks of disbelief they sat down with glasses of firewhiskey, Harry in bed, and opened the letter.

 

_**Dear idiots,** _

_**This letter will only appear if Natasha does something stupid and dies before your bond has been created.** _

_**Also, if she is dead, then that means that the Seer hasn’t shown up yet. (Because the Seer will help guide Natasha to where she won’t die. Probably.)** _

_**Shame.** _

_**So, back to your stupidity: Natasha’s dead.** _

_**Sure, you could panic about Harry or the wards or even try to bury her (don’t do it she’s quite touchy on waking up in coffins).... Or you could just sit back and wait it out.** _

_**She’ll come back. She always does.** _

_**Now, this will sound crazy, but Natasha’s the champion of Life and Death, on a mission to kill Voldemort and restore a certain balance to the universe.** _

_**And apparently you two have been chosen to be her guardians.** _

_**This means you make sure she doesn't die every other day, because she would if she didn’t have someone to stop her from being an idiot.** _

_**Dying still hurts for her, so you two have to make sure she stays relatively safe (and Merlin knows she’ll still find ways to die even then).** _

_**Sirius, you’re actually not that bad, but Lupin-** **I have no idea where Regulus went, but I liked him better than you and if you hurt her...** _

_**I won’t be happy and your world will most likely fall to ruin.** _

_**Now make some coffee.** _

_**She’ll wake up and want that and a pain potion.** _

_**Mess this up and you’ll die a horrible death,** _

_**Loki Laufeyson** _

 

Sirius wasn’t sure if he’d read that right, but Remus had the same look on his face, so maybe he had after all... Getting up to start a pot of coffee in silence, both thought over the letter.

“Do you think she’ll actually… come back?”

Sirius turned, leaning against the counter. “I- uh- I don’t know.”

There was the sound of something breaking and both looked at each other, before bolting down the hall. Harry was standing inside Remus’ room, facing off with Regulus, a lamp nearby having broken in what seemed like a scuffle between the two teens. “You don’t get to stop me from seeing her! She’s my guardian!”

Regulus’ fists tightened, scowl deepening. “And she saved  _ me _ ! You’re just in the way-”

“Please-” The whole room froze. “Please stop shouting. My head’s  _ killing  _ me.” All four of them turned to see Natasha frowning at them, eyes squinting.

 

Natasha woke up to fighting, sitting up and quietly begging the annoying people to stop talking and leave her the hell alone. 

She needed painkillers and some goddamn coffee, maybe even something to drink.

Sliding out of bed, she shouldered past the idiots just standing and staring at her, shuffling to the kitchen. Finding the coffee pot on, she poured herself a extra large cup before adding some rum and grabbing a pain potion. Collapsing into the sofa in the large living room, she downed the pain potion before sipping at her coffee, feeling the headache slowly subside. 

Finally she spoke. “I know you’re there.” Hesitant footsteps made their way into the room and she opened one eye to look at the four wary faces. “Yes, I did just die, but i’m better now.”

Regulus stepped over to her, face hopeful. “You saved me. You knew I was there.”

Natasha sat up slowly, putting her coffee down and smiling softly at the boy. “Regulus… I don’t think that I can-” She took a deep breath before straightening her back. “You don’t know me. You’ve never met me darling… It was pure luck that I found you.” At the boy’s heartbroken face, she looked down at her hands. “Kreacher?”

The house elf appeared. 

“Please take Regulus to St. Mungos. You’ll have to tell them you found him in a place of dark magic after something pulled on the family magics.”

The teen cried out, reaching for her, but with a soft pop, both teen and elf were gone.

Natasha smoothed her finger over the mug in her hands. “Hero worship… It’s been awhile since that happened. Guess I should’ve seen it coming though- his mental health must've degraded while he was stuck down there and then for someone to save him and take him home with them...” She snorted, taking a gulp of her coffee. “Last time it happened Tony got shot for not reciprocating. Thought i’d save us the drama.”

The room fell into a sort of awkward silence until Remus sat down in a chair across from her. “You died.”

“Yeah. I did.” Her smile was weak, eyes darting up to him briefly. “Never sticks long though.”

Sirius waved a paper, catching her eye. “Loki wrote. Told us we needed to bond- as your guardians of course… How- how does that work?”

“I take Harry James Potter, Remus John Lupin, and Sirius Orion Black under my protection.” Their wrists glowed softly and she nodded to where small hourglass marks appeared on their wrists, taking a drag of the spiked coffee. “There you go. Have fun and try not to die.”

“I take Natasha Peverell under my protection.”

“I too take Natasha Peverell under my protection.”

She blinked at where a mark of a dog and a wolf appeared on either side of the Deathly Hallows tattoo.  _ That  _ had never happened before. “What- why-”

Sirius flopped down next to her, lips curled into an amused grin. “I already told Remus I wanted one. Guess it’s Christmas come early.” 

Natasha was almost glad for Harry tackling the man off the sofa ranting about staying away from her, her face feeling hot as she drained the last of her coffee. 

Alas, her wish was spoken too soon when the sofa sunk on her other side. Remus smiled from where he sat next to her, eyes sparkling with humor. “Feeling okay? You’re a little flushed.”

She shoved him off the sofa, trying not to smile when he laughed loudly a second later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> domestic 10/10  
> Also, try not to forget about Regulus ^_^


	12. Summer Days, Drifting Away To The Summer Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame it on the fact I was listening to the 'Grease' soundtrack

Surprisingly, after that _one_ incident, the summer seemed to mellow out. 

The two men finally seemed to get used to Natasha’s unusual manner after a few weeks. 

She supposed she cut an intimidating figure when they went out shopping or for meals, with dressy clothes and the habit of having her long red hair piled up into fancy designs, but around the house she was as more carefree and open than even the teenager in the house. Wearing worn clothing and most days having her elbows deep in the garden, the two men seemed to quickly grow accustomed to her.

The papers, of course, loved her. 

A wealthy woman that seemed to have come out of thin air, that always shows up with Harry Potter by her side, rumored to also be a professor at Hogwarts? Natasha was all over the newspapers.

As for the two men, Remus and Sirius were like a well oiled machine. 

Remus woke up first, making breakfast for when Sirius staggered downstairs late into the morning. Sirius always had chocolate and blankets on hand before and after full moons, spending all night making sure Remus was okay during those nights too. Remus would keep Sirius’ leering in check and Sirius kept Remus from smothering her when she got injured during training.

She had her suspicions though. 

They talked together too often, glancing at her when they thought she wasn’t looking, voices low. Sometimes she’d catch the one or the other with large marks on their neck that they’d try to hide, or stumbling out of each other’s rooms in the mornings.

It came to a head at dinner about a month from her dying in front of them. 

Spooning some carrots onto her plate, she spoke the thing on her mind, eyes still on her plate. “Y’know I don’t care that you’re sleeping together, right?”

Both men choked, sputtering and coughing in surprise. 

Harry burst out laughing. “You broke them!”

“Yes, well I just wanted them to know. I’m not against you being gay, just like Remus being a werewolf will never bother me. I’ve had my own fair share of sexy times with women.”

Harry laughed harder as both men started choking again.

“Though I like men more…” Natasha waved her hand. “Anyway, this is just me saying that I know you’re together and I could care less. If I did it would make me the biggest hypocrite there was, Merlin knows i’ve slept with more than a few people in my time. So have all the crazy sex you want, just please stop flirting with me to try to cover up your relationship.”

Harry looked embarrassed at the thought of her encouraging the two men to have sex, face red. “ _ Anyway _ …!”

Smirking at the boy, she raised an eyebrow. “Yes, alright, i’ll stop the embarrassing talk. What do  _ you  _ want to talk about Harry?” 

The teen launched into a full on discussion with her on the spell she’d been teaching him earlier that day, making her miss the amused looks that both men exchanged.

“Oh- I forgot to ask! My friend Ron asked if I could go with his family to the Quidditch World Cup! Please? Can I?” Harry pleaded.

Natasha glanced at the men, before nodding at the teen. “Sure. Why don't you write your friend and tell him we'd love to join them and will provide our own lodging and seats. I think i’d be good to get out of the house.”

Harry grinned, jumping up to write his letter.

 

All packed and ready for the 'camping trip', the four of them aparated to the Weasley house, Natasha smiling at the familiarly crooked building.

As they got close, the door was flung open, Hermione running out to hug Harry. “Harry! I missed you!”

Ron followed close after, smiling widely. “Hey mate. I got your letters.”

“Harry! Darling! Come get something to eat! You must be starving!” A smiling Mrs. Weasley poked her head out the door, eyes widening when she saw Natasha and the other two, hurrying out while smoothing down her apron. “Oh my, Lady Peverell! I didn't know you were coming so soon! And both  _ you two _ , come give me a proper hug.”

Both Sirius and Remus gave her hugs, Sirius grinning as he picked her up and spun her around, making Mrs Weasley laugh. When she was set down, the woman turned to extend a hand to her in an attempt at pureblood manners.

Natasha ignored the hand, pulling the woman into a soft hug. “Very good to meet you Mrs Weasley, please, call me Natasha.”

The woman blinked at her, before smiling widely. “Then call me Molly. I hear you took in Harry!”

“Yes, well... after all the Potters are a branch of the Peverell family.”

They followed her into the house where she was cooking. “I get Harry, but housing  _both _ these boys?” Sirius winced when a wooden spoon smacked his hand away from a potato. “There nothing but trouble!”

Natasha grinned. “Yeah. Good thing I’m so scary then.”

Harry poked his head in. “Tasha? I’m gonna sleep in Ron’s room. You alright out in the tent with Remy and Siri?” 

She hummed in reply, smiling when the teen raced off to talk to his friends, Sirius and Remus following him out to the main area.

“He’s a good kid...” Molly Weasley smiled at her knowingly. “You had kids before?”

With a slight shrug Natasha accepted the knife handed her way, helping cut up vegetables with an ease that came with knowing exactly how to use a knife to gut someone. “I’m actually sterile from mistreatment as a child… But I raised an adopted kid as my own and my best friend has kids, so I guess it’s almost like having kids.” She didn’t mention that Luna wouldn’t actually  _ have  _ those kids for a long while.

The woman nodded, the look of understanding only other women could give on her face when she smiled sadly. “The kid you raised… are they on their own now?”

She thought of the son she’d raised in her old life, brought up to be the king of Russia. He’d passed the line to his son, died from a blood illness just before she’d decided to go back again. “He- he actually died a while ago.” Molly stopped, turning to look at her. “A lot of my family’s dead... I guess taking in Harry was the best way for me to move on, start a new family.”

“You’ve gone through so much...” When she turned there were tears in the woman’s eyes, getting pulled into another hug. “Just know you’re always welcome over here, same with Harry and the boys.”

Natasha smiled softly. “Thank you.”

Dinner was loud, the teenagers (including Sirius) all playing pranks on each other and laughing at Fred and George’s crude jokes while Arthur, Remus, and Molly talked. It was sweet and Natasha mostly watched the group, soaking in being able to see all of them alive and well.

There was a tug on her sleeve and Natasha turned, eyes widening at the white-blonde haired girl smiling at her. “Hey Tasha. Did you get lost? I thought you were going further back?”

In a flash Natasha was out of her seat and had Luna in her arms. “Missis Moon!” She spun them around, before stilling as she set the girl down. “You remember me?”

“How could I ever forget my Red Queen?”

Natasha’s eyes prickled and she fell to her knees in the grass, pulling the girl into a long hug. “Oh I missed you. I didn’t want to leave but- but I couldnt-” Her voice broke unsteadily.

“I know. Both your guardians had just died and your son too… I don’t blame you for leaving. Mother knows I didn’t mind being here. Dad’s nice to have around.” Luna’s smile was soft as she pulled back. “Now, I believe we have to talk. There’s some peskey nargles waiting for you and I won’t be around to warn you when they show up.”

Blinking she nodded. “Right. Wanna take a walk?”

Luna nodded with a smile and they spent the night talking, Natasha returning late to the burrow and finding Sirius and Remus asleep on the tent’s couch like they tried to wait up for her.

 

Portkeys and catching Harry making eyes (not that he knew he was) at Cedric Diggory aside, Natasha was on edge after Luna told her that bad things were afoot and she followed the others through the crowd slowly, hands on where her guns were hidden in her long coat's pockets.

She helped put up their tent, watching with a smile as the Weasley twins gaped at the luxurious inside. Casting a silent charm on Harry to warn her of danger when the ‘golden trio’ marched off to find water, it was decided the older Weasley boys would stay in her tent while Arthur watched over the twins and the younger kids.

Curling up in a hanging egg chair she’d put into the tent herself, she let herself be sucked into one of the books on time streams and time magic she’d been researching before she’d chosen to go back. Between that and researching about high level transfiguration to alter DNA, she had been making progress on a spell to freeze certain parts of the body without touching others, a way to stall quick-acting magical diseases in order to create a cure in time. 

Absorbed in her reading, and taking detailed notes, she was surprised when a man in casual robes appeared in front of her.

“Hello there, Ludo Bagman at your service.”

Blinking up at the man to try to sort out her brain from the heavy theoretical calculating she’d been doing, she closed her book gently, smiling thinly. “Well met, Mr. Bagman.”

“I’ve heard a lot about the enigmatic Lady Peverell, but you’re even more beautiful than I expected…” Slightly clammy hands raised her hand to his lips where he gave her hand a kiss longer than appropriate, pulling away with a glint to his eyes. “Is it true that you have more than one lordship? From the looks of it you may be one of the richest bachelorettes in the whole of-”

“I do think, Mr. Bagman, that it would be wise not to offend me then.” The man paled a bit when Sirius moved to his side, teeth bared in a slim resemblance to a smile. “I believe you have a tournament to run, Mr. Bagman.

With a quick nod of his head, the man scrambled out.

Sirius looked her over, head tilted. “Wonder if there's a situation you  _ don’t  _ look like you could eat someone’s heart out any second…”

She grinned, opening her book again, pretending not to notice the way the older Weasleys were now whispering about her. “It’s a refined talent.” 

 

Slowly making her way after Remus and Sirius, she frowned at where Lucius Malfoy and his son were taunting Harry. Harry tried to turn away, but the man’s cane was suddenly on his foot. “Do enjoy yourself… while you  _ can _ .” 

“Why don’t you leave the threatening to me Mr. Malfoy. I’d be happy to make a counter offer of pain and torment.” Her voice was smooth from where she’d slid over when the others were distracted. 

The man jolted, eyes widening at her in surprise. “Lady Peverell. I did not expect you to be here too… Normally women of your stature don’t find much pleasure in these sports.”

She tilted her head, eyes burning into his as she held in the urge to kick his ass. “I think, Lord Malfoy, that I will enjoy this  _ very  _ much… but we will see soon either way I suppose.” At the man’s narrowed eyes she grinned, kicking the cane off Harry’s foot. “Till then...”

Turns out Quidditch was less interesting when there wasn’t a threat of children being harmed, so she sat back at took to watching the others cheer and yell. Remus didn’t seem as interested in the sport, but Sirius was howling and screaming like the rest of them so the man cheered along, sending her small smiles and eye rolls every once and awhile.

(Though she thought it  _ quite  _ amusing when the Veela came out and all the men in the stadiums turned into blubbering idiots.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao Natasha's such a fucking queen


	13. The Dark Mark is Honestly the Worst

When the game was over and the two tents were full of revelry, Natasha slipped out of the area and walked to the edge of the tents, invisibility falling over her as she did. Drawing her guns at the first sound of chanting, she dropped behind a tent and started picking off Death Eaters one at a time.

Moving between the tents she shot powerful but non-violent spells into the fray of black cloaks, causing the Death Eaters to go into a panic trying to find whoever was attacking them. 

The fighting must’ve gotten attention, because soon enough people were running, trying to get away from the battle.

Soon enough the Aurors were showing up and she turned to find the other part of her mission. A tall man in a trenchcoat raised his wand, casting the dark mark, but before he could run she shot him in the back with a body binding spell. Stalking over to where the man lay, she waved her hand to disperse the stupify spells a group of Aurors sent her way. 

“You’ve been discovered at the scene of the crime! Drop your weapons!”

She raised an eyebrow at Barty Crouch Sr. “Sir, I would put down your own weapon. Do you not know who is lying before me? Because  _ I thought  _ your son was dead.” She moved slightly to show that the man on the ground was none other than {( _ David Tennant!) _ } Barty Crouch Jr.

The Aurors eyed her as she dematerialized her guns, asking questions and taking her statement while they took away both Crouch men.

“Natasha!” Cries rung out and Harry ran over to hug her. “You weren’t around and I thought-”

“I’m alright. Plus i’m sure Siri and Remy were with you, right?” Harry nodded into her shoulder and she shot an appreciative glance at the two tired adults before turning back to the Aurors. “My adopted son is Harry Potter. Why would I cast that mark?”

One of the aurors narrowed his eyes on her. “Lady Peverell, please pull up your sleeves.”

Sirius burst out angrily. “This is bullshit! Why would she-” Natasha shook her head at Sirius and Remus helped to calm him down as she pulled up her sleeves. 

The aurors in front of her frowned at not seeing the Dark Mark, but a man close by paled at her tattoos, coming over quickly. “Please excuse the questioning, Lady Peverell, Albus Dumbledore speaks highly of you as the newest Hogwarts teacher. I am very sorry about all the formalities, as we can never be too sure...”

She nodded, pulling down her sleeves. “Right. Well i’d like to take my son home now-”

“Wait!” The man, who she now recognized as the Minister caught her wrist. “May I ask what the tattoos you have mean?”

Both men on either side of her and Harry all bristled, but she just smiled sweetly. “Mr. Fudge, you might find out exactly what they mean if you don’t remove your hand from me.” The man pulled back at once and she nodded sharply. “Goodnight Minister.”

Harry was quite confused about the attacks and everyone was shaken up, so she made some tea, put up the strongest wards she knew, and they all sat down to talk it over.

 

Rita Skeeter was less than kind to the ministry employees involved in the World Cup fiasco, but wrote highly about the ‘mysterious red-haired witch that took down more than a few Death Eaters, including Barty Crouch Jr.- a known Death Eater and the one to cast the dark mark’.

With quiet apologies to the Weasley parents that she’d never wanted attention and didn’t mean any harm, she offered up her house as a place for the Hogwarts-age kids to stay while the two adults were taking care of the house and Ministry.

After a long discussion with Mrs Weasley about not needing any type of payment in return for the offer, she went home with five extra children. The kids were more than pleased with the manor and spent all their time exploring (and sometimes causing quite a mess).

Hermione fell in love with the library, the twins dragging the two Marauders into their prank-making, while Ron and Harry spent quite a lot of time out in the large field flying. Ginny sometimes joined them, but after two days, Natasha found the small red-headed girl sitting and watching her as she worked. 

“What’s that?” Ginny was leaning over her shoulder, eyes curious as Natasha carefully wired together a device for scanning magical artifacts that she planned to send to the goblins for patenting. 

Flipping her visor up, she smiled at the girl. “It’s just some inventing i’ve been doing for a side project.” Not that she was going to tell the girl there was a multi-million galleon contract the goblins had granted her, to use her extensive knowledge to upgrade their equipment (and possibly the Ministry's too). “You seem to be bored and I should know that’s never good… What’s up?”

Ginny sighed wistfully. “All the boys are doing stuff and Hermione’s ignoring me.”

“Well... you have such pretty hair, want me to braid it?”

“Like with magic? Mom does that sometimes.” 

Natasha chuckled, putting down her tools and casting a protective ward over the project. “Not exactly. I actually grew up without magic. Maybe I can show you how to do it without magic? It’s pretty useful and fun to do.”

The girl’s face lit up. “Yeah! Parvati and Luna will be so excited when I show them!”

When dinner came around, Ginny’s red hair was braided back into a elegant bun while Natasha’s hair was in a only slightly better braid than Clint used to do (and he had two left hands when it came to hair), but she was happily showing it off. 

Sirius immediately insisted that she braid his hair, which led to both twins and Hermione also asking for different hair styles.

With hot chocolate and cider, she watched as the group slowly fell asleep where they were spread out over the couches, before pulling out a murder mystery she’d borrowed from Wanda so long ago and settling down to read.

 

All the adults working to keep the kids in their sights, they managed through getting school supplies and dress robes, ignoring the old ones they had gotten as hand-me-downs. Then finally, with a breath of relief, she was more than happy to drop the kids off at King’s Cross before heading to Hogwarts with the two men.

Apparently after talking with Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius would be teaching History of Magic together, with Sirius as a substitute during full moons. It worked out perfectly as Remus and Sirius didn’t need separate rooms anyways. 

As for her, she would be teaching Muggle Studies and helping with Defence... though she wasn’t sure about how well Alistair Moody and teaching would go together.


	14. Long Live the Queen!

Apparently she’d been assigned a larger room than the year before, right next to the Defence classroom, but it was horribly bland from being unused for so long.

Her favorite place she’d ever lived in for an extended period of time had to be her floor in Stark tower. Closing her eyes, she channeled her magic into her hands and then out through the air, like she’d seen Wanda do many times before, imagining the sleek wall length windows, cosy chairs around a small coffee table, and large bed pressed into the corner. The bookshelves lining the walls of the hallway in, hanging egg chair by the windows…

Opening her eyes, she smiled. The room had changed, expanding a little, but it was perfect and felt like home. 

Everything was in its place, even as she didn't know how some of it even got there. She picked up a book off the table, smiling at it.  _ ‘Alice in Wonderland’ _ , the very book she’d been reading before the Accords messed everything up. Setting it back down, she grabbed her phone from where her magic had made it appear and shook her head as she opened it. Nothing was out of place.

Knowing the programmed numbers and internet wouldn’t work, she grabbed a pair of earbuds and slipped into more casual clothes, humming along to AC-DC as she made her way through the castle.

Turns out she was almost exactly on time and she tapped her fingers against her thighs as she walked to the head table. 

Comfy jeans and one of Tony Stark’s stolen band t-shirts matched her loose muscles as she sat down in the open seat between Remus and Snape (Sirius as far away from the man as possible), rolling her eyes and choosing to make polite conversation with the Potions Master despite the nasty glares exchanged. 

Dumbledore stood with a flourish of his hand after the sorting. “I would like to introduce Sirius Black, the very  man himself . As he is under the care of Mr. Lupin and Lady Peverell at the time, he will be helping teach History of Magic with Mr. Lupin.” Murmurs spread through the room, and Remus leaned closer to Sirius who stiffened at all the eyes on him. “Also, in a change of position- Lady Peverell will be teaching the Muggle Studies class as well as helping with Defense, so I'm sure that it will be  _ quite  _ exciting.”

She shared a smile with Dumbledore before waving to the students with a smile. 

“Now that we’re all settled in and sorted, i’d like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen-” 

Filch ran over funnily, whispering to Dumbledore and she moved to elbow Sirius for snickering, finding Remus had the same idea. 

The Headmaster cleared his throat, Filch running off again. “So, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Triwizard Tournament. Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament brings three schools-...” 

Natasha rolled her eyes as the man’s tone slowly became more and more dire, before watching as the Beauxbaton girls flounce in, making practically the whole Hogwarts go crazy with cheering. She held out her hand, watching as one of the blue magic butterflies landed on her, turning a gold color as she stabilized it’s form with her own magic before letting it flit around her face, it’s wings kissing her cheeks lightly. With a soft smile she watched as the butterfly landed calmly on her braided hair and turned into a golden clip.

With the announcement for the Durmstrang students, she tilted her head to watch the impressive staff magic the boys were wielding, filing away a note to have one of the upper students duel her with staffs before the year ended.  

Sirius grinned at the show of fire magic, Remus knocking the man’s arm to stop that horrible train of thought in it’s place.

Karkaroff moved to sit down next to Snape, eyes leering at her as he passed. “I did not know there were such beautiful women here in ‘ogwarts or I would ‘ave come sooner!” 

Whispers started up through the hall.

“Сядь. Заткнись.” Her voice was harsh and the man blinked in surprise while his students drew up to defend their headmaster. “Меня зовут Романов, а не 'женщина'.”

The man stilled before tilting his head back in laughter that boomed across the hall. “You are lucky that this one has not taken over Russia then Albus!” Before she could be properly offended by the comment, the Bulgarian Headmaster dipped his head in acknowledgement to her. “And you go by what, princess?”

“ Peverell. ”

Karkaroff chuckled again. “Fine then. Hide all you want, but you will find respect with my school.” 

At that, the whole Durmstrang student body bowed, right hand fisted over their heart. “Да здравствует королева!” Then, like nothing happened, they sat down mostly at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables.

Natasha sighed, sending the grinning man a glare and sat back in her chair, content to let Dumbledore finish his speech. 

In the middle of showing off the Goblet of Fire, a storm shook the illusioned ceiling and she pulled out her silver gun to fire off a spell just as Moody appeared, doing the same thing. 

There was silence as the man hobbled over to where she was standing, magical eye fixing on her arms. “Sleeves.” His voice was gruff. At her unamused stare, the man pointed his wand at her. “Sleeves!”

“Oh fuck off Moody, you paranoid bastard!” She grumbled, moving to pull up her sleeves and show him the tattoos so only he could see. “Not a day into the school year and i’m already getting accosted!” 

The man’s eyes widened at the marks and with a frown he pulled her sleeves down, hobbling over to sit by Remus. 

Dumbledore gave her an amused look and she sighed, sitting down once more. “No more interruptions Albus, I promise.” 

Once the Goblet of Fire was presented, the feast laid out, she summoned a cup of coffee with a long suffering sigh. 

Harry smiled at her from his place in the sea of students and she stood from her seat silently. “Excuse me gentlemen, I plan to sit somewhere  _ other  _ than here. Please behave, I do know where all of you sleep.” Ignoring the amusement from the surrounding masses of men, she moved down the hall to where Luna was sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table. “Missis Moon, may I sit?”

Luna smiled brilliantly up at her. “Do nargles like my necklace?”

Natasha offered up the standard reply, voice tired. “They would like it more if it was designer.” She sat down, nodding to the other students, the Durmstrang students dipping their heads back in a show of respect that she pretended to ignore. “How do the Heliopaths factor into this competition? I hear they are trying to fix the pot.”

With a shrug, Luna lowered her voice. “The nargles did like Moody, but he seems to have warned them off expertly. Maybe I should ask how... or did you have a hand in that?”

“Can’t have our favorite Mad Auror getting infested, can we?” She smiled wryly, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Guess not… How’s the search for good food going?”

Grinning, Natasha produced a large pizza box. “Oh, you seem to be underestimating me. The house elves are already on my side, and they got some pizza ready.” 

To the wonder and confusion of the other students, they dug into the slightly cold pizza while talking in codes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Сядь. Заткнись- Sit down. Shut up  
> Меня зовут Романов, а не 'женщина'- My name is Romanov, not 'woman'  
> Да здравствует королева!- Long live the queen!


	15. Honey is Better than Vinegar- Unless it's Sea-Salt and Vinegar Chips

The next morning, a group of about 40 teenagers sat around her small classroom, talking. Even when she walked to the front of the class, no more than half the class looked up and only a few British or French students had their stuff actually out (although all the Durmstrang students in the class were sitting at attention). 

Dressed in leggings and a loose t-shirt, Natasha pursed her lips, pulling out her phone and sitting on the desk playing Bejeweled with the sound all the way up. After a few minutes she looked up to see the class watching her in curiosity. She leaned over the podium, smiling at a Bulgarian boy in the front who was watching her. “Do you know if it’s nice outside?”

The boy nodded once, voice stiff like he was answering a command. “It is.”

“And do you wanna go outside or sit in here?” 

By now the whole class was listening.

“Go… outside?” The boy asked her like it was a trick question.

Natasha smirked. “Lovely. Let's go then!” 

The kids hurried after her and she paused to throw up a ward against people snooping in her classroom. No one who wasn't in her current class would be able to find the right room. 

She stopped down in the large courtyard already populated with a good amount of students, casting a warming charm on the stones of the courtyard to warm the air nicely before turning to her class. “Does anyone know the fist thing one does to get acquainted with a culture?”

A girl raised her hand and Natasha nodded to her. “Um- learn their language?”

“Close… You listen to their music!” Natasha turned to the other kids around that weren't in her class. “Also, anyone can join in- it’s no fun when you dance alone!”

Tapping a playlist that she’d made for Steve of music from the 30’s, swinging jazz music filled the courtyard. Most of the students startled at the loud music that was nothing like they’d heard before, mouths dropping open.

Natasha grinned, glad she and Clint had taken that dance class together for fun, starting to dance. Humming along with the music, she waved at students, feet moving easily to the beat. “Come on! Lose your stupid pride for second and  _ DANCE _ !” 

Eventually some of the french girls started moving and dancing, laughing at each other. A boy pushed his friend next to the girls, the boy turning red as he started dancing with them. 

Natasha twirled, walking over to an older boy with blonde hair and encouraging him dance with her as the next song came on.

More kids started dancing, eventually all of the kids in her class joining in.

The music finally stopped and she raised her hands, getting the attention of the large crowd that had amassed. “I’m doing this for all my classes today, so if you have free periods, feel free to come down and dance a little! Bring your friends! I have two classes every Tuesday and Thursday, so just follow the music!”

The two classes went quite well and she managed to get all of her students through the 30’s music, telling them to focus on their studies and get some rest for homework, before heading down to dinner early.

 

She was stopped by Ginny Weasley before she got to the head table, the small girl shyly tugging on her sleeve. “Miss Natasha, my braid- it came out when I took a shower this morning… Can you-”

“Sure thing darling, why don’t you sit down.” With the girl sitting back down at her table, Natasha looked around to see that only half the students were even in the Great Hall. “Want some music? Or do you think i’d get in trouble...?”

Ginny nodded, smile wide. “Can you put on that one that you showed me by the Pilot-people?”

“Twenty One Pilots?” She shook her head, putting on  _ ‘Tear In My Heart’ _ with a smile, thinking about how the girl reminded her of Wanda. “Should’ve known you’d like them. You’re just like a girl I used to know.”  

Ginny tapped the table and sung along with the music as Natasha did her hair. “ _ She’s the tear in my heart, I’m alive. She’s the tear in my heart, I’m on fire. She’s the tear in my heart, take me higher, than I’ve ever been. _ ”

Natasha smiled, joining in on singing the end of the song before summoning a hairband to tie off the waterfall braid. Stopping her music, she gave a bow to the giggling girl. “My pleasure as always, Miss Weasley. Us redheads gotta stick together.” High-fiving a Gryffindor muggle-born on the way to the staff table, she sat down next to an amused Remus. “What’s the look for?”

The man pointed to where Sirius was doing his dramatic strut down the isles to the staff table, his silvery eyes narrowed. “Tasha I thought that you only braided  _ my  _ hair! How dare you disrespect my mane of gloriousness by-”

She snapped, turning his hair blue.

Sirius gasped loudly, the students all giggling. “MY PRECIOUS HAIR! UNDO IT YOU  _ MONSTER _ !” With a eye roll, she undid the coloring charm and cast a hair-braiding spell with a wave of her hand. “Aw you’re such a softy Tasha!” 

“You know I could beat the shit out of you, right?”

Sirius just grinned, flopping down into the chair on the other side of her. “I know.”

Finally the Hall settled down for dinner, the whispers only growing when Sirius complained enough for her to turn so he could try to braid her hair, but just ended up playing with it while she talked to Remus quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We appreciate soft domestic vibes 10/10


	16. The Problem With Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is really not doing it for me- I might finish it in a manor that's not exactly that fun... but no worries- it's just because I really wanna move onto a different part of this series

Natasha was wary about teaching with Moody, but sat on the wide desk, content to let the man teach a few classes before she offered to pick up on anything he wasn’t too good at.

She watched as Moody hobbled in, standing in front of a chalkboard. “Alastor Moody. Ex-Auror, Ministry malcontent, and your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I am here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end.”

Natasha chimed in, voice soft. “Any questions?” 

The class was silent, most of the kids too scared to speak up to the intimidating man.

“When it comes to the Dark Arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are.” Moody’s eye flicked around over the class.

Hermione spoke up, voice shaky. “Three sir.”

Moody moved to the board. “And they are so named?”

“Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them will-

“Earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban.” Moody’s continued on in his usual speech of constant vigilance, snapping at Seamus for trying to stick his chewing gum under his desk, turning to throw his chalk at the boy when he muttered about ‘seeing out the back of his head’. Then with a grimacing frown, the man marched up to the front of the desks where Harry and Ron were sitting. “Weasly! Stand!”

The red-head looked terrified, rising slowly.

“Give us a curse.” 

“Well..” The boy was almost shaking. “My- my dad did tell me about one… the imperius curse?”

Moody muttered about the ministry, before moving to the desk next to where she was sitting, one eye rolling to watch her as he scooped up a small spider. Charming the spider bigger, he cast the imperius curse on a spider, before making it dance around the class. Students laughed, freaking out when the spider got close to them.

“Talented isn’t she! What should I make her do next?... Jump out the window?” The class sobered almost instantly along with the man’s voice, which had turned grim. “Drown herself?”

“Moody.” Her voice was soft. “Please remember where you are…”

“Ah. Right...” The man eyed her as he drew back the spider, proceeding to give the class a talk on Voldemort and the imperius. 

Bidding the class for another curse, Natasha watched Neville give the name of the cruciatus curse with a haunted look on his face. 

Moody waved the boy forward, putting the spider down. “Pretty nasty… The torture curse-  _ Crucio _ .” 

The spider writhed, screaming, and she saw the boy’s face turn to horror.

“Moody, please.” The man stopped, eyes darting between her and the shaking boy. With a frown at the man, she moved to stand, guiding Neville to the door. “Why don’t you take the rest of the class darling, if you go tell Mr. Black I sent you he should be able to steal some chocolate from Mr. Lupin for you.”

Neville nodded, rushing out of the class and down the hall. 

She moved back to her place on the desk and with a nod, let Moody continue.

The man moved to Hermione, setting down the spider. “Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Granger.” At Hermione’s wobbling lips and teary eyes, Moody raised his wand. “Avada-”

“Moody, you cantankerous old bastard, you  _ better not  _ be about to cast the killing curse in front of fourth years.” 

The man stopped, looking to her with narrowed eyes. 

She slid off the desk and walked past the man to gently accept the spider onto her hand where it happily started crawling up her arm, focusing in on actually teaching the students about the killing curse. “In order to cast the killing curse, you have to have the  _ will  _ to want something truly dead. That’s why most are unsuccessful at using it and some… are quite  _ adept _ . Now, next class we will talk about the origins of these curses. Your homework is to eat some type of chocolate and I expect you all to complete that task in a timely manner. CLASS DISMISSED!” 

The students seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, rushing to leave.

Waiting until the students were all gone, she turned on Moody. “What are you  _ thinking _ ! I know you’re an ex-auror, do you even  _ start  _ to show trainees those curses until they have a year of basic training under their belt?”

The man frowned grumpily. “No…”

“Then why were you going to show these fifteen year olds!”

Moody grunted. “Potter. He needs to know them to beat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

Natasha huffed, setting the spider back in it’s cage and turning on the man with a hiss. “No- Not if I have any say in it- that boy will never see that monster face to face. Now I’ve been sent by very powerful people to stop the Dark Lord and you’ve seen the tattoos, so don’t think for a second that pissing me off is a good idea.” She summoned a copy of her class notes for Defence. “We’ll teach this class properly or i’ll feed you to the Giant Squid  _ so fast  _ your head will  _ spin. _ ”

She sent him another glare and stormed out of the classroom. 

 

Striding into the History of Magic classroom, the whole class turned to look at her. 

Seeing Neville and Sirius sitting in the far corner drinking tea, she found herself snapping at the class. “Continue!” Seeing a few students flinch as her harsh tone, she felt shame well up in her stomach, softening her face and posture slightly. “I mean, I’m sorry for interrupting, I’m just here to check on Neville. Please- continue."

Remus gave her a searching look before going back to his lecture.

Moving quietly towards the two in the back, she sunk down in the seat next to Neville. “I’m so sorry Neville. I forgot for a second about your parents- I should never have let him go on with what he was doing.”

The boy shook his head slightly. “Mr. Black was just telling me about them. I can’t blame you if you weren’t even friends with them.”

“Even so, please tell me if you need to talk or you just need to get out of class or anything I can do to help.”

Neville looked up at her, eyes lost. “Are they still alive? The people who did that?”

“Not for long, if I have any say in it.” Her grin was sharp as she stood up. “Make sure you get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

Natasha went to lunch early, giving Hermione a book on house elf magic and binding when she was stopped by the girl- who was in a rage about her favorite teacher using house elves.


	17. Mother Magic Does It Again (That B*tch)

Natasha sat by Luna, watching as the students crowded around the Goblet of Fire- an ancient relic that she’d read about during her time as a teacher in her other life. At the time she’d thought the gruesome trials had been almost entertaining, interesting to read, but now they seemed almost haunting. 

_ What kind of trials would these children go though? _

A handsome boy was shoved forward by his friends and he dropped his name into the blue flames, giving her a slight smile. Luna leaned over, voice deceptively light. “He’s a good enough champion for Hogwarts...”

She offered up a thin smile back to the boy and was about to ask Luna about the tasks, but before she could a ruckus arose, the Weasley twins running in and saying something about ‘doing it’. Everyone was cheering as they waved their aging potions around.

Hermione, on the other side of Luna, snorted, her voice sing song. “It’s not going to work.” She then went on to explain the age line. “Plus, Miss Peverell will surely stop you!”

Both twins turned to look at her, speaking in sync. “What d'you say, Miss Peverell?” 

“I wouldn’t if I were you, but as i’m not in class as of the moment I don’t really  _ have  _ to stop you…”

Both boys cheered, going onto drink their aging potion before jumping into the ageing line. When nothing happened, the room cheered. They both grinned, then tossed their names into the fire anyway. When it did nothing after a second’s pause, the room burst into exaltation. 

But only a second later were they tossed out of the circle, hair in long white locks, beards growing. 

Two old men.

She laughed, standing up to hold out her hands, helping them both up. “I would say I told you so, but I believe that Hermione gets that honor first.”

The room’s whispers and chuckles went quiet, and she turned to watch a muscled Durmstrang boy put his name in the fire. He bowed his head to her, before turning and leaving swiftly.

Natasha sighed as the whispers started up again with a vengence. 

This whole ‘show of respect’ thing was getting old pretty fast. 

 

Natasha found herself slipping into a routine.

Slowly her classes progressed from being ‘stupidly easy classes’ to classes that everyone wanted to come to. Eventually she was taking over the Great Hall during her Muggle Studies classes. She’d moved from just dancing, to freeze dance, to karaoke and then to documentaries and movies.

Of course, with her access to millions of songs, none of the kids dared complain about her class, for fear she would stop playing the catchy music. 

Even when she woke up early to run around the Quidditch pitch or to work out, she found crowds of kids would gather just to listen to her music.

Then some of favorite students asked her if she wanted to sit with them at the Gryffindor table for dinner. With no reason not to, she sat down at the Lion’s table, talking animatedly with the people around her. They reminded her of Clint, with his undying stubbornness but good heart. 

The next day the Ravenclaws asked her to sit with them, so she did. She got lost in talking history and science, feeling like she was with Tony and Bruce again.

And from there it went. 

Natasha bounced around at each of the tables, and it got to the point she had to schedule out her meals in advance. Which house she was sitting at, what end of the table. It was exhausting, but she didn’t mind because the students always behaved very well and it was nice to have people to talk to during meals.

 

Dumbledore, Natasha decided, was a huge drama queen. 

Dimming the torches, playing up the Goblet’s changing fire… he was  _ way  _ too dramatic to be straight. Same way she knew that Tony Stark had slept with Steven Strange at one point (in her old life) or that Sam Wilson had a crush on T’challa. 

She just  _ knew _ .

The Durmstrang champion was Victor Krum, the muscular boy she’d seen earlier and the Beauxbatons champion was a pretty blonde girl she’d seen around making the boys fall at her feet, though the Hogwarts champion was the young boy that had been at the World Cup with them. 

Sirius and Remus whispered to each other quietly up at the head table, as she was sitting with Luna and Ginny at the Ravenclaw table.

A horrible feeling took over her body as Dumbledore started his grand speech about victory, Luna frowning from beside her. “This will be interesting...” 

Then the goblet was glowing, a name getting spit out, and- 

“Harry Potter?... Where is he! HARRY POTTER!”

Harry stood up slowly, looking to her with wide eyes. 

Natasha felt her blood boil.

Then with a flash of light the goblet was replaced with a familiar woman in a shimmering white gown. “Oh. Interesting…” The room went silent and the woman turned around, smiling at the Headmasters. “And did you three ask my  _ permission  _ to host this tournament? Because...” She pulled a large book out of thin air. “My ledgers don’t say anything about a Triwizard Tournament this year.”

All three Headmasters sunk to their knees. “Lady Magic.”

A ripple went around the room and Natasha sunk down in her seat. “Oh  _ fuck _ .”

“I don’t think you thought this through...” The woman said, voice sing-song. “So in order for me to be happy with this, because color me  _ very  _ unhappy- I will choose a champion to compete in place of Mister Potter- as he is now in the tournament underage and  _ no one _ wants him to lose his magic… Natasha!” 

The room was silent.

“Natasha darling! Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Natasha groaned under her breath before getting up and walking over to the woman. “What. You want  _ me  _ to do this ridiculous competition?” Gasps echoed out but she crossed her arms stubbornly. “You have to be _kidding_.”

“Darling... love... honey bunches of oats…” Magic’s smile was wide. “Do it for the vine?”

“No way.” She then snorted. “Also, you’ve been spending way too much time over with Loki and Peter.”

The woman threw up her arms, sighing loudly. “Oh come on! Why not?”

“It’s not fair!” Natasha growled. “You expect these kids to win with me in the tournament? Are you insane- actually don't answer that- I already know you are.”  

“Fine! Fine, you’re right...” Magic pursed her lips. “I’ll pick two more students from each school to give the champion aid in their tasks, to work as a team. If anyone gets hurt, you take the damage, your tasks will be harder… Um- oh- and how about if you win, then i’ll owe you a favor and all of the champions will get a gift.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever, just make sure it’s a challenge, as it’s not like I have much of a choice- I need a drink to deal with you.”

Magic tossed her a bottle of whiskey with a wink, before turning to the three Headmasters. “Do we have a deal?” The Headmasters looked at each other, all nodding. With a smile, the woman then turned to the students who were mostly watching Natasha lean against a pillar and drink. 

The woman called out six more names, including the Weasley twins- then with a flash- disappeared. 

“Well…” Dumbledore rose from where he’d been kneeling with the other two Headmasters, giving her a tired smile. “I think that our champions should take some time to think and talk among themselves, as this is the first time that the Triwizard tournament has had teams before…”

Natasha cursed every god she could think of as she stalked away from the crowds staring at her and into the golden room with a bunch of trinkets. The other champions looked up in surprise, Dumbledore explaining the changes to them as she sunk into an armchair with a sigh.

 

Like the flip of a switch, the whole school stopped seeing her as they did only hours before, like they’d all decided she was a traitor- along with Harry. 

The staff seemed on her side, yet were wary of her due to how she had acted in reaction to Lady Magic (apparently it is not every day one talks back to the woman controlling fate itself and lives to tell the tale).

Natasha mostly let Moody teach Defence, having the Muggle Studies classes do their own research on computers she’d summoned. 

Instead of sitting with the students, she read her books during meals quietly and ignore the stares. 

At least the goblins were happy she was working more, as she was sending in more and more improved vaccines, updated gear, even better spells for patenting and then distribution through a number of shell companies. 

She even started up researching a cure for lycanthropy with her spare time, Remus happily letting her poke and cast diagnostic charms on him.

Harry got into a fight with Malfoy just as she was walking to the library to pick up a rare copy of an old healer’s manual that had come in for her, and she started over just as they cast their curses. 

The curses ricochet, causing Goyle sprout green boils and Hermione's front teeth into something akin to a beavers'. 

With a wave of her hand, both curses were undone. “Please try not to get into fights so often you two or people might think you fancy each other. Now since it seems you don’t have anywhere to be, Malfoy you will take a detention with Professor Snape, Harry with Professor McGonagall.”

Both boys looked red-faced, but she just passed by them on her way to the library.

The Weighing of the Wands came upon her, Albus Dumbledore smiling slightly as Rita Skeeter couldn’t get any information or reaction from her. 

Ollivander confirmed the quality of all the wands, before turning to her with a smile. “And you, Miss Romanova?”

“I go by Peverell actually, Garrick.” She summoned her guns, laying them down carefully in front of the man. “If I may… The first wand is Alder wood with the hair of a Veela, freely given. The second is a mix of Blackthorn and Cherry wood with thestral hair.”

The man’s eyes glazed over as he ran a finger over both guns, making them flicker into wands just briefly. “Yes… I believe you will succeed in your mission, as your patrons will see that much to be true.”

“I do hope so Garrick... I also hope you have a good day.” Natasha helped him up to standing.

With a slight bow, the old wandmaker smiled. “Try not to die, my dear. You’ll give all those kids a heart attack.” 

Natasha shrugged. “I don’t know, they  _ do  _ seem to hate me. Plus I have to say the odds of someone forcing my hand are quite high.” 

They shared a smile, the man’s hand coming up to rest on her shoulder. “No one likes what they do not know, but they cannot truly hate what they do not fully understand.” And like the crazy old coot that he was, Garrick Ollivander laughed loudly, hobbling off.

She picked up her guns and flicked her wrists to dematerialize them, before turning to the room that was watching her, muttering under her breath. “Right. I’m sure that no one hates me, but no one is throwing their hands up to even talk to me- so i’d go with dislike… Whatever.” With her back straight as it always was, she made her way through the crowd of champions and went back to her rooms to sulk.

Passing her time, she sent the goblins the Diadem and a letter about the cup, before paying them to transfer the horcruxes out of the objects and destroy them. Telling the goblins about the horcrux in Harry’s scar, she set up an appointment with the goblin ritualists for about a months time and they would make sure the boy got there, even if she was busy.

It seemed that slowly people were starting to warm up to her more as the Weasley twins, Harry, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Hermione, Remus, Sirius, and the Durmstrang students protested her being behind a nefarious plot to take the championship for her own.

She was reading a latin text on old magic, walking down the aisle to the staff table, when someone stepped in front of her. Looking up, she saw the Neville and smiled softly. “Hey Neville. Can I help you?”

“You said I could ask if I needed anything?” She nodded for him to continue, and the boy glanced back to where the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry were sitting, voice growing braver as he straightened. “Well I want for you to face these accusations instead of just hiding away!” 

She blinked, watching as all the courage faded from the boy, before laughing. “Yeah, you’re right. I do tend to act like an idiot sometimes, but usually I have someone to snap me out of it… Thank you Neville- I guess I can’t hide behind my inventions like Tony does.”

The boy smiled brilliantly. “Can you sit with us then? Ginny’s been complaining about her hair not getting braided, the twins are anxious to show you a new prank, Hermione wants to see the book you’re holding, Harry’s just been mental with worry, and-”

“I get it. I’ll sit with you.” 

At the group’s cheer, she shook her head, sitting down at the table and holding the book out to Hermione. “It’s in Latin, but I know a translation charm if you want…”

She spent dinner talking with the Gryffindor table, Luna plopping down next to her only a few minutes in. “I see the nargles have been slightly averted… But you have some way to go.”

“Oh?” Natasha tilted her head. “And did my mother tell you anything urgent?”

Luna grinned dopily. “Just that the first task is the beast you faced during that Romanian expedition you went on, and that the floppy-haired one doesn’t know yet.”

Standing, Natasha thanked her quietly, before approaching the Hufflepuff table. The Hall went silent to watch and she held out her hand. “I hope you do well Cedric, you’re a worthy opponent.” 

The boy looked confused, but accepted her hand, eyes widening slightly at the note she pushed into his hand as they shook. 

With a nod, she moved back to sit down again, winking at Luna.

Walking to Muggle Studies, a voice made her pause. “Why so tense  _ Romanova _ ?”

She turned to Malfoy, who strolled over like he thought he was god’s gift to man. “That is not my name and you know it, Mr. Malfoy.”

“My father and I have a bet…” The boy sneered. “I don’t think you’re going to last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees… he thinks you won’t last five.”

Natasha hummed. “Should I care what your father thinks, Mr. Malfoy? If I remember correctly, he was sporting a fancy little mark on his forearm last time I checked… And in case you wanted to know, if you want me to die then you better try  _ really hard  _ because last time someone tried, it didn’t stick.” She turned to walk away.

“You-”

Before either Moody (who she saw lurking in the background) or Draco could move, she spun and shot the boy in the chest with her silver gun. Instantly his skin was orange, hair a sickly green color. 

One of the kids from her classes jeered. “He’s an Oompa Loompa!” Then the other kids around who either knew the movie or had watched it in her class recently started singing the lyrics, driving the boy to run away. 

McGonagall rushed over. “Natasha!”

“Not to worry Minerva. It will wear off within the hour without any side effects.”

Moody laughed, hobbling over and slapping her on the shoulder with a grin. “It was better than what I had planned. Good job lass.” When the crowd dispersed, the Auror leaned over. “Now as much as I trust those marks on your arms and the women you represent, I don’t wanna watch you die, because you’re funny in a  _ ‘fluffy bunny that is about to get eaten but still fights’ _ way... So what’re you gonna do about your dragon?”

She smiled, shaking her head. “Moody, you bastard, you’ll have to watch me like everyone else.”

Moody laughed as she strolled off to show her students ‘ _ How to Train A Dragon _ ’.


	18. My My My, What Do We Have Here... Dragons? Oh Joy.

Natasha felt as if she was being sent to her execution and only she knew that there was a silver lining. 

Everyone was worried, even her students seemed nervous for her, but she just strolled past the worried faces giving out high-fives and fist bumps. 

Once inside the champion’s tent, she grinned widely at the others. “I assume you all have lovely plans and I expect to come in last. Also, just so you don’t worry, remember I’ll be taking any wounds you get. Good luck!”

Rough hands spun her around, Sirius pulling her into a hug before drawing back with a hand lingering on her shoulder. “Good luck... I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.” 

Remus moved over, resting his hand on her other shoulder with a soft smile. “You’ll be fine.”

There was a flash and they looked over to where Rita Skeeter was strolling in. “What a great love triangle! The ex-convict and the professor, caught in a perpetual fight over the red-haired vixen that everyone’s been whispering about.” The woman winked. “I  _ thought  _ you’d have something behind those mighty walls of yours.”

“You have no business here. This tent is for champions, and friends.” Krum’s voice was low and when Rita left in a huff, the boy gave her a low nod, to which she returned.

“Good luck.” Both Remus and Sirius gave her small smiles, exiting the tent.

Dumbledore then burst in with the Minister and the other Headmasters. 

A purple bag was extended to the three other champions, a Welsh Green, a Chinese Fireball, a Swedish Short-snout drawn by the other kids. 

But before the bag could be offered to her, the man paused. “Miss Peverell will by decree of Lady Magic, face not only the last dragon in this bag, but all of the others too.”

Natasha pursed her lips, but nodded and brought out the Hungarian Horntail, which started to bite at her thumb while she watched it in faint amusement.

“These represent four very real dragons, each of which has been given a golden egg to protect. Your objective is simple! Collect the egg- this you must do for each egg contains a clue without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?”

With a cannon blast, Cedric and the Weasley twins left the tent.

There was a long pause, before the cannon blast sounded again.

Then the Durmstrang boys left with nods to her, then the Beauxbatons girls a little while later.

Finally the crowd went quiet, the roaring escalating. “And now our fourth contestant! Lady Natasha Romanova Peverell!” 

Sliding into her sleek battle uniform and strapping her guns to her thighs, she made her way out of the rock tunnel that the other champions has left though. She could tell from the slight burns on her left and right arms that Cedric had gotten hurt, but the other two had seemed mostly okay (other than slight scrapes).

The crowd was yelling and booing mostly, but with a wave a one-way silencing charm was cast, muffling the loud noises. 

The four dragons were chained down, far enough away they wouldn’t attack each other, but close enough to all reach the egg and piss each other off. And pissing each other off they were. All yelling about the chains, one screaming about her eyes, another about a hole in his wings, the other two females about their babies.

“Please! Please stop yelling, I can hear you just fine!” There was a pause as the dragons turned to look at her and she stepped forward, hands raised. “I can help you. Your eyes, they hurt and your wing- it’s torn… Please, let me help.”

With snorts to each other, arguing the merit to her claims, the four dragons finally agreed to let her come forward- carefully of course.

With soft steps, she approached the Horntail. “Can I see your wing? I know a healing spell from a companion of mine, a dragon like you. His name was Loki, quite the mischievous one if you get my drift-” She kept talking until the dragon presented his large wing, and she quickly cast her healing spell. 

The Horntail roared loudly, professing his gratefulness, leaning down to nuzzle at her with his nose (that was much smoother than she’d expected) before sitting back on it’s haunches like an over-sized spikey dog.

With a smile, she went on to move to the Fireball slowly, talking about how much she missed her friends. 

She was telling the story of how Clint and her had gotten lost in Budapest after a particularly long mission, healing the dragon’s blindness before pausing in her story to shed a tear with the dragon over the eggs it had smashed under its talons during its panic.

Then she turned to the other two dragons. 

“I know you miss your children, but I fear I can’t do much for you. I can’t even share your pain with you. I was raised by people without magic- raised to have one purpose and one purpose alone: do another’s bidding. I was tortured and beaten and trained to fight until I was a weapon, a tool. The day they decided that I was perfect, out of all the other little girls they had taken from their homes and raised to be weapons, they made me turn on the others and kill them in cold blood. Then they sterilized me so I could never have children of my own.” She held out her hands, only speaking to the dragons but knowing that everyone else could hear. “I was a child, asked to fight in wars I did not understand. They used technology to brainwash me, to make me compliant, that I didn’t break for almost twenty years. I have never known the love of parents or the warmth of having my own child.”

The dragons were silent, still, but they watched her with intelligent eyes.

“But I took in a son recently and he means the world to me. So much so that I would stand before you, weapons forgotten at my sides and ask you: Will you let me pass, collect the egg these wizards have tried to disguise as yours? If not, kill me now and let us be done here.”

Silently conversing with each other, all of the dragons sat back.  _ “You may pass, Weapon of Death, as we hear your truth and grant you the gift of friendship. From henceforth, you are a dragon-friend.” _ Four bursts of flame hurtled toward her, encasing her in a wash of orange flame, but when they stopped she was unharmed.  _ “You are granted protection from our fire.” _

With a relieved smile, she moved toward the egg, scooping it up. “Thank you, you four. It was an honor to become your friend- if I might offer one word of advice, Charlie Weasley is a friend of mine and I hear he’s actually nicer than a lot of the other dragon-taming dolts.” With a wink, she sauntered back to the stands as the crowd tried to figure out what to do with what had happened.

 

She made her way into dinner late and with bandages covering the place where burn salve was soaking into her arms, soft sweatpants and tank top out of place in the immaculately dressed (or as much as kids could be) tables of wizards. 

The Hall quieted, watching her as she made her way up to the staff table like needles piercing into her skin the longer they stared.

Halfway there she shook her head and stopped. “You know what? I’m done! Take my magic for all I care, i’m out of this stupid competition. All I’m doing is wasting my time.” She turned back two go for the doors to the Great Hall.

“Natasha...” 

Freezing, she turned to see Clint’s spirit standing there, hands on his hips. 

“Already quitting?.... I thought the deal was that you never give up.”

Natasha rubbed at her burning eyes. “That was before you died. Stop haunting me.” 

Clint stepped closer. “Come on Tasha! You’ve faced worse odds than this! Remember when you and I were captured in Cuba, nothing but a revealing swimsuit and a toothpick between us? Though I don’t know why they took  _ my  _ clothes but left  _ your- _ ”

“Clint. The point?”

The man grinned sheepishly. “That’s your motto! Take on the world and screw anyone who gets in your way!... In the bad way though not the fun-”

She put her face in her hands, as if it could take away her headache. “ _ Clinton _ !”

“Right, right, okay. What i’m saying is if anyone can take this head on and not loose, it’s you. God knows you already beat both the man that put Hitler in power and the man who punched Hitler in the face. What’s wizard Hitler got on that? Barnes has a friggin metal arm, I mean have you seen the dude? He’s like-”

Natasha held up her hand. “Point made. You can disperse into something less annoying now. Goodbye, go away.” 

With a grin, Clint was gone. 

Natasha turned around to face the whole Great Hall, feeling more tired than she had in a long time. “Right. Can we can all just agree not to discuss anything said in the last five hours?” There was a murmur through the crowd and she nodded, managing to get to her seat at the head table without anything else happening. 

Sirius just rubbed her back comfortingly when she put her head down on the table until the hall returned to it’s normal noise level. 

 

Later Natasha was pulled into a party at Gryffindor tower, both Sirius and Remus already there, Luna even popping in to give her a hug. Seamus held up the golden egg, cheering loudly, and she shook her head. 

With a resounding chant to have her open the egg, she did, resulting in a loud screeching sound. 

Closing it, she sighed. “Mermaids. The only creatures that can screech forever and yet still sound pretty while you’re drowning.” She looked the the Weasley twins with a pointed look, that they both returned by smiling thankfully at her.

The edge of Remus' lips quirked from where he and Sirius had butterbeers in hand and were only using about half the sofa (she'd like to see the person that told them that there usually was more space between people when sitting). “Guess you know what to do?”

“Yeah… Better go get some sleep and take a hot bath.” With a promise to have more muggle candy for her students on Monday, she made her way to the Room of Requirement, asking for a private bathing area no one could get into.

She found herself in a gilded room, tiled in golds and cream colors, soft white towels laying next to a large sunken-in bath, steps leading into it. 

It was steaming nicely, the smell of peppermint light in the air.  

Stripping, she moved into the water, washing up and braiding her hair before opening the egg underwater. Leaning down so her ear was pressed to the water, she listened to the mermaids sing.

 

_ ‘They find us where our voices sound, _

_ We cannot sing above the ground, _

_ And while you’re waiting, ponder this: _

_ We’ve taken what they’ll sorely miss, _

_ As you struggle while you die, _

_ The chains they bind while you defy, _

_ To save the one you seek below, _

_ A life you will have to forego _

_ An hour long you’ll have to look, _

_ And to recover what we took, _

_ But past an hour – the prospect’s black _

_ Too late, it’s gone, you won’t come back.' _

 

After listening to the song a few times to commit it to memory, she closed the egg, a creeping feeling of dread washing over her.

It seemed that there were some... morbid fates in her future.

Damn all, Fate really owed her one for this.


	19. And The Creeping Feeling of Danger Grows Stronger Yet

With the Yule Ball approaching, Natasha was expected to find someone to bring that would dance with her. 

And the horrors of asking someone to go with her aside- she was apparently helping the other teachers teach the students how to dance. 

Because of Severus’ personality and Flitwick's size, she agreed to help the Slytherins and Ravenclaws with their dancing.

Hooking up her phone to some of the larger speakers she could find, she turned, grinning at the students. “To those of you who have seen my classes or even participated, I would like to have all of us warm up before I attempt to teach you how to dance. Now I want to see all of you moving, or I’ll dock you house points!”

She put on  _ ‘Uptown Funk’,  _ moving to the middle of the dance floor and starting to dance with Hermione and Ginny. Seconds after the students she’d already had in class were pulling their friends in and there was a mass of dancing students. After the song ended, she slid through the crowd to the front, pausing the music.

“Okay everyone! May I have a volunteer or do I have to bully Severus into dancing with me?” 

Ignoring a glare from Snape, a voice from the back rang out. “Will you take the offer of someone your own height?”

Natasha looked to the back where Sirius was leaning against the wall, smiling. “Only if this someone promises not to step on my feet or be a idiot.”

“No stepping on feet is a given, but I don’t know about that second one…” Sirius grinned, moving through the crowd of students and sinking into a low bow. “May I have this dance?”

“You may.” With a wave to her phone, they stepped together as light waltz music started. “One, two, three. One, two, three. You constantly want to be moving in the mirror of your partner. Good, now that you see, please find a partner and dance along. I will be wandering around and giving tips.” Breaking with Sirius, she shooed him off to dance with Remus, who just looked amused.

Most all of the students started dancing, a older boy coming up to ask her to dance. Indulging him for a few minutes, she sent him off, only to find another boy coming up to her. Eventually it was just her being passed around the room and she smiled when a older girl asked her to dance, face red. With a comment on being absolutely the bravest person in the room, Natasha spun the girl around and left her in a giggling mess before moving to shut off the music.

“Well, with that, go off and find dates to the dance!” A few boys moved towards she and she sighed lightly. “I, as a champion, already have a date to the dance.” Hearing some of the students groan, she shook her head and moved to set up a large Christmas tree and menorah for her Muggle Studies class. 

 

Harry found her during one of her breaks, frowning deeply as he sat down next to her in front of the fireplace in her room where she was reading. “Tasha- how…” She looked up to see his face was all scrunched up. “How do you ask a girl out?”

“Are you sure you want to go with a girl?” Harry started to look offended and she raised an eyebrow. “You know I don’t care. Siri and Remy are  _ prime  _ examples of that.”

Harry sighed, face in thought. “No… I’m not sure.”

Natasha hummed, putting her book aside. “Can you think of anyone who you find pretty?”

“Malfoy.” He blinked then, eyes going wide. “I mean-”

She laughed, cutting him off. “So I  _ was  _ right, you two have that whole ‘sexual tension’ thing going on.”

Harry groaned, burying his face in his hands. “What do I do…?”

Natasha smirked. “Well first thing’s first, we have to cut your hair. You’ve gone on looking like a mop way too long.”

 

In the morning, Harry and her walked in to breakfast together, the teen turning red when she pushed him lightly towards the Slytherin table. “You got this!”

Flipping her off behind his back, Harry walked towards the Slytherin table. “Malfoy?”

The blond looked up, sneer faltering for a second when he caught sight of Harry’s shorter hair that still somewhat fell in his eyes. “P-potter?”

Harry’s back straightened and Natasha inwardly smirked at the boost of confidence seeing the other boy falter was. “Will you go with me to the Yule ball?”

The blond was not expecting that apparently, falling into a sort of shock.

Harry just smirked. “Get back to me soon Ma-  _ Draco,  _ or I’ll have to ask someone else.” Then spinning on his heel, Harry gave her a high five as he passed and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

In turn, Sirius stood up from his seat, unsteadily getting up on top of the head table. His voice boomed across the hall, cutting through the new gossip before it was fully formed “REMUS LUPIN WILL YOU GO WITH ME TO THE DANCE?”

Remus had a small smile on his face. “Only if you get down from there.”

Sirius cheered. “HE SAID YES!” 

Natasha laughed, sitting down next to Luna. “I love a good dance… Do you think my date will show up?”

“I would wear something gold and green if I was you.” Luna didn’t look up.

Smiling at the confirmation, she started in on her breakfast.

 

There was a light knock on her door just as she was starting to get nervous, and opening it, she saw Loki a dark green suit with gold trim. “Loki…” She reached out, sighing in relief when her hand met his. “You showed.”

“Couldn’t miss dancing with you, could I?”

Natasha smiled and linked their arms. “We get to be one of the first to dance, so that should be fun.” They both smiled knowingly and walked towards the main hall, talking lightly and catching up on how both worlds were doing.

With the fanfare of trumpets, they were shuffled by McGonagall to the front of the line of champions, leading the precession into the main hall. She winked at where Harry was standing with Malfoy, smiling at Remus who Sirius appeared to be already wrapped around. 

With the music, Loki pulled her in close, voice low at her ear. “You do know if I didn’t have the hottest boyfriend around I would definitely rip that dress off you piece by piece.” He dipped her in a circle, bring her back up smoothly.

Natasha smiled, knowing the gold cocktail dress was one of her better looks. “Darling you’d have to get in line. Half the room looks ready to do the same.” 

Loki frowned, moving faster so they were doing the dance at double the pace, spinning and lifting her up in the air for a bit to long. She laughed, following his lead easily and enjoying the time she got with the man she was content to call her friend.

At the end of the song Loki leaned down to kiss her hand, smile soft. “I believe that’s one... See you around, Romanoff.” He swept into the crowd, disappearing.

Natasha smoothed out her dress, moving over to where Snape sat on the sidelines. “Dance with me? I need someone grumpy enough to scare the teenagers off and honorable enough not to spike my drink.”

The potions master gave her a long-suffering look. “You think me honorable?”

“Someone not honorable wouldn’t spend his time protecting the kid of someone they hate.” She smiled softly, extending her hand. “Come on, please? You’re my type of dancing partner. Tall, dark, and with a glare strong enough to kill.”

The man’s lips quirked up. “Alright Miss Pev-”

“Natasha, please, we  _ do  _ work together.”

“Natasha then. Shall we?” The man’s eyes were amused at the gaping people as she pulled him to the dance floor, starting out in a simple waltz.

Seeing Harry and Draco dancing in sinc, mouths moving rapidly, she chuckled. “Who wants to bet they’re insulting each other in that way that makes you want to brush your teeth?”

“Undoubtedly.” Snape’s smile was almost pleasant. “They argue like a married couple. Draco never stops talking about that-  _ Potter _ .” 

The man stopped from calling Harry a brat narrowly, but she smiled all the same.

Seeing Remus and Sirius coming up, she nodded to the sandy-haired man. “Good luck and try to  _ actually  _ dance.” She moved as Remus pushed Sirius. She and the werewolf danced away, leaving Sirius in Snape’s arms, both awkwardly dancing to the edge of the floor before splitting up with matching scowls. 

Chuckling the themselves, she and Remus finished out the song dancing smoothly.

 

The next day she handed out presents to all the kids that had been over at her house during the summer and some of the staff, getting a few small things in return like a wickedly sharp knife from Sirius, a book on human transfiguration from Remus, a pair of lovely red hourglass earrings from Harry, and a pack of bobby pins from Luna (with a short note saying they were useful- even to wear to sleep).

She then dropped by Krum and Cedric, who both had a less ominous,  _ less deadly  _ version of the poem she’d gotten in her egg. 

With a heavy heart, she fell back on trusting Luna, braiding her hair back and putting a few bobby pins in every night as the second task got closer. Her students seemed to sense her agitation, stopping by after classes to wish her luck the day before.

Hoping for once that Luna Lovegood was wrong, she went to bed, bobby pins in her hair.


	20. Let The Curtains Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, this story is coming to a close and I- uh- Sorry?  
> Anyway... the point of view will change from Natasha to Harry halfway though because of reasons ^-^

When she woke up in a floating containment chamber above the Black Lake, she sighed, slumping down and hitting her head against the wall of the chamber. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

A voice boomed out over hers and she saw the three champions on a platform about a hundred feet in front of her. “Welcome to the second task! Last night, something was stolen from three of out champions, a treasure of sorts. These three treasures, one for each champion, now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this, they will have one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that they’ll be on their own, no magic will save them. Lady Peverell’s containment chamber will fill with water over this hour. If anyone is left behind, both they and her will drown. You may begin at the sound of the canon.”

The cannon was fired and she watched as the champions dove into the water, a large projection coming up of where Hermione, Fleur's sister, and Cho Chang were lying unconscious underwater. After a while of the water rising steadily, a blonde girl broke the surface and Natasha hissed as scratches and cuts open on her legs and arms.

Fleur looked up at her with wide eyes. “I- i’m sorry! I can’t go back!” She mumbled something in French, an apology of some sort.

Natasha thrashed, the chains on her wrists tightening further. “No! You have someone waiting for you! Don’t give up! Save your sister, come on!”

“I can’t!” Fleur started to swim towards the platform, getting out of the water and leaning heavily on her other two team members, tears in her eyes.

Screaming in frustration, magic swirling dangerously around the containment field, Natasha slammed her fists on the barrier. “Let me out! I’m supposed to be competing- not tied up in some stupid box! Come on!”

Dumbledore almost sounded sad, voice booming across the water. “Your tasks are designed with you in mind, Miss Peverell, by Lady Magic herself.”

Natasha slumped back, and sighed when the chains loosened. “Okay. Okay you’re in the Red Room. Come on. Red Room situation, what would you do.” She closed her eyes, going over the poem in her brain. “As you struggle while you die, the chains they  bind while you defy ...”

She went over those few lines again.

Eyes flying open, she smiled widely. “ _ Brilliant _ !” She sat down in a position akin to when she’d meditate with Bruce, slowly relaxing every muscle in her body that she could, feeling the chains loosen and elongate. Moving slowly and smoothly, she pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, fiddling with the chain lock. 

After a while, the water already to her chest, the chains fell open and dissolved. 

Focusing on the containment field charms and the glass itself, she found a pressure plate and upon punching it, fell to the water below when the container dissolved. 

With a glance to the clock, she saw she had twenty minutes. 

She could save Fleur’s sister. 

No problem.

Flicking her wrist, she pulled a handy invention of Tony’s out of thin air that could store up to half an hour of oxygen, putting it in her mouth and diving below the water. With a quick charmed rope shooting out to where she wanted to go, she quickly pulled herself along.

Floating, a chain tied around her ankle, Natasha found Fleur’s sister. Approaching the girl, mermaids came out of nowhere, tridents pointed at her. She frowned, before the next two lines of the poem came to her. 

‘ _ To save the one you seek below, a life you will have to forego.’ _

In a moment of panic, she used her gun to spell out a message in glowing letters: 

_ Trade. Me for her.  _

After a pause, she was dragged over to a chain, ankles tied up. The girl was set free, floating in the water and Natasha sent one last spell her way before her gun was grabbed from her hand and tossed away. Then the long, thin fingers pulled the device from her mouth, and with fuzzy eyes she watched as a bubble encased the girl, rising to the surface steadily.

The mermaid in front of her smiled with sharp teeth as her lungs finally gave, hands clawing at the water as she drowned.

 

Waking up, she could feel the water in her lungs already killing her, but she thrashed, trying to get free of the binds. The mermaids gave her long looks, before her vision went fuzzy and she died again.

Over and over, Natasha struggled to get free. 

She desperately wanted to get back to her family, to the castle, to the people counting on her. But the chains seemed to dull her magic, and without her guns it was useless. 

A cycle of never ending torture.

Her mind, in those moments in between, thought of all those little things she’d wished she had done. Why had she never married Sirius in her last life or had Loki tell Clint she missed him so much it hurt? Why did she never stopped working and actually traveled for the purpose of finding new things? Or adopted more kids?

Right as she felt the familiar burn of her lungs, she made a silent vow to send a message to the other Sirius through Loki to save her other version from the Red Room. Then the sensation of dying took her over again.  

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she woke up again. 

This time, however, she watched as the light washed over the ruins under the water, mermaids dancing around. And when her vision started to go, she simply closed her eyes and hoped Harry forgave her.

 

\--------------

 

Watching Natasha sit, face thoughtful as the water rose around her, was the most painful thing Harry had ever done. Then Fleur broke the water, facing towards Natasha and he stepped forward, gripping the railing and watching as her eyes widened. The blonde teen started swimming back to the platform, Natasha thrashing against the chains and yelling about not giving up.

Sirius’ hand settled on his shoulder. “She’ll be alright. She has to be.”

Everyone watched the red-head struggle, a gold cloud of magic seeming to whip around her violently as she yelled to be let out. She sounded angry, but he could hear the tremor of fear underlying her voice.

At Dumbledore’s words about her tasks being designed for her, the crowd watched as she slumped back, closing her eyes. 

Harry wanted to scream at the woman not to give up, but then slowly the woman raised her hand to her hair, pulling out a bobby pin. Eyes widening, he spun to Luna, who was watching silently. “You! You knew this would happen!”

The girl’s voice was soft and airy, but it held underlying steel that almost made him step back. “Stop accusing me and watch Harry. You won’t see her again.” Then the girl disappeared into the crowd.

Harry turned back just in time to see the containment field around Natasha dissolve, the woman falling to the water of the Black lake. “Come on Tasha, swim over. Come on, swim over god dammit.” 

The woman’s eyes passed right over him to the large clock and a familiar look of determination came over her face. 

Harry gripped the rail tighter, voice rising. “No. No don’t you dare-”

The woman flicked her wrist in the universal sign she was summoning something, a black rectangular shape appeared and she put it in her mouth, diving under the water.

“Champion 4, Natasha Peverell, has completed her task. But if she saves the last treasure underwater, she will get double the points.” There was a pause as Cedric and then Krum broke the water with Hermione and Cho. “Cedric Diggory is pulling first at the moment, with Lady Peverell second, Viktor Krum third, and Fleur Delacour fourth.”

The large magical projection changed, displaying a new picture. Instead of Fleur's little sister, it was Natasha, pulling herself further into the depths of the Black Lake hand over hand along a rope. 

She got to where Fleur’s sister was floating, chain tied around her ankle, and the crowd cheered. But when she swam forward, a trident was pressed to her throat. 

Harry watched as her eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed, darting from the mermaids to the girl.

“No. Don’t you dare Tasha.” He muttered, wishing he could yell the words at the woman herself as he hugged her tight. “Don’t you dare not come back to me. You don’t get to leave me.”

The silver gun appeared in the woman’s hand and there was a long pause as glowing words were spelled out. 

_ Trade. Me for her. _

Harry hit the railing, fear welling up in his chest as she was dragged over to the girl by the mermaids and chained up. Fleur’s sister was set free, a spell being sent her way before the mermaid grabbed the silver gun and discarded it. 

The sliver of hope that she still had the device in her mouth was smashed as the mermaid grinned with sharp teeth and took it away.

Harry found himself running down the stairs, pushing past people to get to the dock where the champions were. Something broke the water, the girl, but all the eyes were fixed on the screen as Natasha clawed at her chains, eyes wide with panic. But her movements were slowing down, and soon her eyes slipped closed, a few last bubbles of air leaving her lips.

Her red hair floated around her, having come out of it’s braid, like a halo of blood.

The Durmstrang students all put their fisted hands over their hearts, words said by Krum, and echoed from the others voices low and sad. “Да здравствует королева.” 

Harry felt numb, like the feeling when a ghost passes through you, but this time the ghost had stolen his emotions. 

He recognized arms holding him back as he tried to get forward in hopes he could touch her, felt wet streaks on his cheeks that he didn’t process crying, heard screams of anguish and pain that he knew were his but he didn’t remember yelling. 

He didn’t remember the way Sirius and Remus pulled him away from the platform and into a boat, or how the faces he passed were all filled with sadness and pity. 

All he could see was her hair floating in the water around her as she died.

 

Harry vaguely remembered the trip back to the castle, silent and mournful. The students spilled into the Great Hall and he was led to sit with Remus and Sirius. But the sight of her chair at the staff table, a mess of different colors and hand-prints from when she’d had the students play with muggle paint, made his blood boil. 

Ripping himself from the arms guiding him, he turned, eyes catching on white blonde hair and he drew his wand. Students scrambled out of the way and he pressed his wand to Luna’s neck, breath hot and chest burning. “You! You killed her! You knew she wouldn’t have time! You knew that she had to trade herself!”

“Yes.” Luna’s smile was sad. “Because Natasha told me about the poem in her egg. It clearly says: ‘ _ To save the one you seek below, a life you will have to forego’...  _ She had to die to save Gabrielle and you know she would rather it be her than anyone else.”

“Why!” The tears were back, hot on his cheeks. “Why take her from me? She’s all I had goddammit!” His voice broke. “Why’d you have to- to take her from me!”

Rough hands pulled him back, Sirius’ voice just as broken, yet strangely strong. “Stop this Harry. Luna didn’t make Natasha do anything. Tasha chose this herself.”

Harry knocked Sirius’ hands away. “SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE!”

“Harry…” Remus was at Sirius’ side, eyebrows drawn. “Do you remember what she told you the other day?”

He froze, his wand dropping to his side eyes burning with even more tears. “She told me that even the brightest stars in the sky would die one day in a flash of light and that no one knew that better than her. She told me about her family and how much she missed them and that happy ever after didn’t mean forever it just meant time. A little time…’”

Luna’s snort was quiet from behind him. “She got the last bit from Doctor Who.”

Harry sniffed, turning to Luna. “She’s not coming back, is she? Her body is going to be at the bottom of that lake forever isn’t it?”

“Not forever, no. She always did have a way of escaping confinement.” Luna’s laugh was bright, bouncing around the hall. “But trust me, it’s meant to be this way. And you’ll find that she left you more than you know.”

“I don’t doubt it...” Harry turned, moving out of the Great Hall, heart heavier than before.

 

He found himself in her room, curled up on the large bed in blankets that seemed to smell of leather and vanilla, trinkets and bobbles and posters around the room that he couldn’t understand and probably never would.

Then he heard her voice. “ _ Darling Harry, I’m going to assume something bad happened to me, so this will play as soon as you enter the room without me. I’m not exactly sure what is planned, no one will tell me for sure what the test is, but I assume that this is Magic’s way of punishing me for wanting to go back. She likes to do that, punish us- her champions. She’s cruel that way.”  _ There was a pause, a soft sigh. _ “You know I can’t die, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be stalled. There are situations that will keep me down and I imagine that bitch will find a way… I just wanted you to know I love you very much. Hope to see you before time runs out. Kisses- Natasha... Also, P. S. make sure you go to Gringotts on Monday before 12. The goblins will know what to do.” _

Harry flicked his wand, starting the recording again, and buried himself further into the blankets, wishing they could swallow him up so he’d never have to face the world.

 

The whole castle seemed to move slower. 

Students found themselves getting up and getting dressed to go watch their favorite teacher work out to the most ridiculous music, making funny faces or playing inappropriate songs to make students laugh, only to remember that she was gone. 

Students came to the great hall for the Muggle Studies class, only for the witch the ministry sent to lecture about technology so outdated it made the students wonder if she knew the muggles had landed on the moon. 

There were no stories about The Christmas Truce of 1915, no animated Disney movies or strange but fabulous inventions, no funny little rectangles playing music. 

The school noticed Mr. Lupin looked older, more tired, and drank muggle hot chocolate every chance he could. 

That Mr. Black took to his animagus form at Mr. Lupin’s feet most days and refused to talk to anyone. 

And then there was Harry Potter. 

Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived, who hadn’t moved from Lady Peverell’s rooms other than to leave the school for a few hours the Monday after Natasha Peverell died, coming back to say that Gringotts would not accept proof of death without a body. 

All in all, the castle carried on but slower than before.

 

Harry came out of Natasha’s rooms, pretty sure the castle wouldn’t change or get rid of them after he had spent three hours shouting at the walls of the room that he’d kill himself if they did. He came out of the rooms, Natasha’s phone in hand, and sat curled up in the staff chair no one had touched. He ate slowly, with music blocking out the people around him.

And after getting notes from Hermione without her trying to talk to him, he was on his way back to her rooms, but something made him stop behind Viktor Krum. Slowly he pulled out his headphones, hands shaking slightly. “What did you say. After she died, what did you say?”

“Да здравствует королева.” Viktor’s lips quirked up in a sad smile. “It means long live the queen.”

“Why?”

The Bulgarian boy looked from him to his friends before smiling back at him. “You did not know? Her name is Romanova, a descendant of the Romanov line. She could be the Queen of Russia, but I think she did not choose that title because of you. This way she can stay here.” The boy shook his head. “It does not matter. She is still blood of royalty either way.”

Harry blinked. “So the head nods, the fists over your hearts…”

“Respect. For the Red Queen.”

They both turned, a distinctly airy laugh coming from a blonde girl who was smiling widely. “Oh she  _ hated  _ that nickname! She’s not going to be happy if it sticks again!” Luna then flounced off to the Ravenclaw table with a wide smile.

He shook his head, turning back to Krum. “Thank you. For telling me.”

The older boy bowed his head slightly and Harry put the earbuds back in, heading back to the rooms that still smelled slightly of vanilla.

He'd stay in the warmth of her lingering magic one night more.

And then?

Harry Potter was going to live up to the name that had been left behind by the person he'd always think of as a mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Да здравствует королева- Long live the queen  
> We'll have to see how the next story goes!! ^-^


End file.
